Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of the forensically important family Piophilidae (Diptera) from different European locations. (February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zajac, Barbara Karolina; Martin-Vega, Daniel; Feddern, Nina; Fremdt, Heike; e Castro, Catharina Prado; Szpila, Krzysztof; Reckel, Frank; Schütt, Svenja; Verhoff, Marcel A.; Amendt, Jens; Zehner, Richard
• Is Part Of: Forensic science international. Volume 259(2016)
• Page Start: 77
• Page End: 84
• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Subjects: Piophilidae -- Barcoding -- Forensic entomology -- Identification success -- Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (coI) -- Elongation factor 1 alpha (ef1a); Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Forensic -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine légale -- Périodiques; Chimie légale -- Périodiques; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; Chemistry, Forensic; Medical jurisprudence; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 614.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.12.024
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0379-0738

Abstract

Highlights: 103 specimens of 9 forensically relevant piophilid species were examined. The mitochondrial gene coI and the nuclear gene ef1a were analyzed. Barcodes of 9 piophilid species were established. No indication for a correlation between genetic variance and geographic origin. Abstract: Species identification plays an important role in forensic entomology and is mandatory for an accurate calculation of the minimum post-mortem interval. Many important Diptera and Coleoptera taxa of the cadaver community can already be identified by common barcoding approaches, i.e., by sequencing a 658 bp region in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( coI ) gene. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of reference barcodes for species, in particular, that can be found on cadavers at later decomposition stages. Flies of the family Piophilidae illustrate this gap of knowledge perfectly. Due to the fact that a reliable morphological identification key for the immature stages of this flies is still missing and the immature stages of many piophilids cannot be assigned to a certain species, there is need for additional tools to identify forensically relevant taxa. We collected adult piophilid specimens at 10 locations in five European countries: Spain ( n = 3 locations), Germany ( n = 3), Portugal ( n = 2), Poland ( n = 1) and Switzerland ( n = 1). Apart from the coI barcoding region, we additionally analyzed a 398 bp long region of the nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha ( ef1a ) and subsequently established the molecular identifier for nine piophilid species. In addition, we present the molecular phylogeny of the examined taxa.