Logo image
Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene: potential for distinction between immature stages of some forensically important fly species (Diptera) in western Australia
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene: potential for distinction between immature stages of some forensically important fly species (Diptera) in western Australia

M.L. Harvey, I.R. Dadour and S. Gaudieri
Forensic Science International: Genetics, Vol.131(2-3), pp.134-139
2003
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Forensic entomology requires the fast and accurate identification of insects collected from a corpse for estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI). Identification of specimens is traditionally performed using morphological features of the insect. Morphological identification may be complicated however by the numerical diversity of species and physical similarity between different species, particularly in immature stages. In this study, sequencing was performed to study the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as the prospective basis of a diagnostic technique. The sequencing focused on a section of the cytochrome oxidase I encoding region of mtDNA. Three species of calliphorid (blow flies) commonly associated with corpses in western Australia, Calliphora dubia, Chrysomya rufifacies and Lucilia sericata, in addition to specimens of Calliphora augur and Chrysomya megacephala were studied. Phylogenetic analysis of data revealed grouping of species according to genus. The DNA region sequenced allowed identification of all species, providing high support for separation on congeneric species. Low levels of variation between some species of the same genus however indicate that further sequencing is required to locate a region for development of a molecular-based technique for identification.

Details

Metrics

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.32 Entomology
3.32.1638 Forensic Entomology
Web Of Science research areas
Medicine, Legal
ESI research areas
Clinical Medicine
Logo image