Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes of two forensically important blowfly species: Lucilia caesar and Lucilia illustris

Kathleen R Schoofs; Urszula Krzeminska Ahmadzai; William Goodwin

doi:10.1080/23802359.2018.1457991

Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes of two forensically important blowfly species: Lucilia caesar and Lucilia illustris

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2018 Oct 9;3(2):1114-1116. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2018.1457991.

Authors

Kathleen R Schoofs¹, Urszula Krzeminska Ahmadzai¹, William Goodwin¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

Abstract

Blowfly species of the family Calliphoridae can be used in forensic investigations to estimate the minimum post-mortem interval (PMI_min). Lucilia caesar and Lucilia illustris (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are closely related and phenotypically similar, making reliable identification difficult. To identify potential genetic markers to distinguish these species, five complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced: three for L. caesar (KM657111-KM657113) and two for L. illustris (KM657109, KM657110). The ND6 gene contained the most species-specific SNPs (1.71%), followed by the ND5 gene (1.68%) and the COI gene (1.56%), identifying ND6 and ND5 as valuable loci for differentiating L. caesar and L. illustris specimens.

Keywords: Forensic entomology; Lucilia caesar; Lucilia illustris; post-mortem interval; species identification.