Dataset Information

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

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.

SUBMITTER: Schoofs KR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7871984 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

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

Schoofs Kathleen R KR Krzeminska Ahmadzai Urszula U Goodwin William W

Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources 20181009 2

Blowfly species of the family Calliphoridae can be used in forensic investigations to estimate the minimum post-mortem interval (PMImin). 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. ...[more]

PMID: 33644383

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe green bottle fly maggot, Lucilia sericata, is a species with importance in medicine, agriculture and forensics. Improved understanding of this species' biology is of great potential benefit to many research communities. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a short non-protein coding regulatory RNA, which directly regulate a host of protein coding genes at the translational level. They have been shown to have developmental and tissue specific distributions where they impact directly on gene regulation. In order to improve understanding of the biology of L. sericata maggots we have performed small RNA-sequencing of their secretions and tissue at different developmental stages.ResultsWe have successfully isolated RNA from the secretions of L. sericata maggots. Illumina small RNA-sequencing of these secretions and the three tissues (crop, salivary gland, gut) revealed that the most common small RNA fragments were derived from ribosomal RNA and transfer RNAs of both insect and bacterial origins. These RNA fragments were highly specific, with the most common tRNAs, such as GlyGCC, predominantly represented by reads derived from the 5' end of the mature maggot tRNA. Each library also had a unique profile of miRNAs with a high abundance of miR-10-5p in the maggot secretions and gut and miR-8 in the food storage organ the crop and salivary glands. The pattern of small RNAs in the bioactive maggot secretions suggests they originate from a combination of saliva, foregut and hindgut tissues. Droplet digital RT-PCR validation of the RNA-sequencing data shows that not only are there differences in the tissue profiles for miRNAs and small RNA fragments but that these are also modulated through developmental stages of the insect.ConclusionsWe have identified the small-RNAome of the medicinal maggots L. sericata and shown that there are distinct subsets of miRNAs expressed in specific tissues that also alter during the development of the insect. Furthermore there are very specific RNA fragments derived from other non-coding RNAs present in tissues and in the secretions. This new knowledge has applicability in diverse research fields including wound healing, agriculture and forensics.

Dataset Information

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

Publications

Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes of two forensically important blowfly species: <i>Lucilia caesar</i> and <i>Lucilia illustris</i>.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets