OBJECTIVE: To identify the common Sarcophagidae with a 278 bp fragment of cytochrome oxidase I in mitochondrial DNA and to obtain an unambiguous and rapid identification method for Sarcophagidae in forensic investigations. METHODS: Nineteen Sarcosaprophagous flies were collected from 16 locations in 12 Chinese provinces. All specimens were comprised of 4 species. The mtDNA of flies was extracted with SDSPK extraction method. Polymerase chain reaction was conducted in an Eppendorf 5331 thermal cycler. The PCR products were purified and sequenced and the obtained sequences were uploaded to GenBank. A neighbor-joining tree was constructed with MEGA4.0 package. RESULTS: The 19 Sarcosaprophagous flies were well clustered. The intraspecific variation within species varied from 0% to 3%, while the interspecific variations between species varied from 8% to 12%. CONCLUSION Congeneric species can be separated by the short fragment (278 bp region in the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene), which will be instrumental for implementation of the Chinese Sarcophagidae database and lay a foundation for post mortem interval estimation in future forensic cases.
Animals ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; genetics ; Entomology ; methods ; Forensic Pathology ; methods ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Postmortem Changes ; Sarcophagidae ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Species Specificity