ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 4

Partial Sequencing of the Cytochrome Oxydase b Subunit Gene I: A Tool for the Identification of European Species of Blow Flies for Postmortem Interval Estimation
Vian, JM
Department of Biology, head, Department of Entomology, and head, Department of Biology, Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale,

Carlotti, MP
Department of Biology, head, Department of Entomology, and head, Department of Biology, Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale,

Vincent, S
Department of Biology, head, Department of Entomology, and head, Department of Biology, Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale,

(Received 26 January 1999; accepted 21 September 1999)

Abstract

The identification of insects found on a dead body can lead to the estimation of the time of death (postmortem interval). We report an updated version of an established method based on sequence analysis of PCR products from a region of the cytochrome b oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial gene of different members of the family Calliphoridae, by sequencing six European species: Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Lucilia caesar (Linné), Lucilia illustris (Meigen), Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvody), Calliphora vomitoria (Linné), Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvody) and one Guianese species: Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius). This technique provided clear results when applied to the larvae and we also report the identification of empty puparia.

Keywords:
forensic science, postmortem interval, Calliphoridae, blow flies, puparia, mitochondrial DNA, cytochrome oxydase gene, polymerase chain reaction, sequencing

Paper ID: JFS14777J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14777J
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