02133nas a2200265 4500008004100000245015700041210006900198260001200267300001200279490000800291520134000299653000801639653000801647653000801655653000901663653001801672653001001690653002401700653002701724100001401751700001701765700001401782700001701796856005401813 2012 eng d00aWhy is the molecular identification of the forensically important blowfly species Lucilia caesar and L. illustris (family Calliphoridae) so problematic?0 aWhy is the molecular identification of the forensically importan c11/2012 a153-1590 v2233 a

Species of the fly genus Lucilia are commonly used in forensic investigations to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). Two close-related species Lucilia caesar and L. illustris are difficult to identify. Previous studies showed that the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) marker could be used to identify many Lucilia species. However, mixed results were obtained for L. caesar and L. illustris due to some European specimens showing identical haplotypes. Here, we investigated 58 new European male specimens of L. illustris and L. caesar whose morphological identifications were checked and for which COI fragments were sequenced. In addition, two other mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit II and 16S) and two nuclear (internal transcribed spacer 2 and 28S ribosomal RNA) markers were obtained for a subset of these samples. For each marker, genetic divergence within each species was in the same range as between species, confirming the close relationship between both species. Moreover, for each of the gene fragments, both species shared at least one haplotype/genotype. Hence, none of the molecular markers tested could be used, alone or in combination, to discriminate between L. illustris and L. caesar.

10a16S10a28S10acoi10aCOII10aDNA Barcoding10aITS-210aPostmortem interval10aSpecies identification1 aSonet, G.1 aJordaens, K.1 aBraet, Y.1 aDesmyter, S. uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.08.020