Abstract
DNA extraction frequently requires destruction of whole samples. However, when the sample is very rare or has taxonomic importance, nondestructive DNA extraction is required for preservation of voucher specimens. In the case of arthropod specimens, minor anatomical structures such as a single leg or a single wing are often sacrificed instead of the whole body for DNA extraction. In an attempt to save the entire anatomical structure of specimens, several authors tried to brew the whole specimen in a lysis buffer and to extract DNA from the “soup.” We applied this nondestructive DNA extraction technique to a forensically important blowfly species,Phaenicia sericata. With nondestructive DNA extraction, a satisfactory quantity and quality of DNA for PCR amplification was obtained with only minimal anatomical disruptions that do not alter the morphologic identification. This nondestructive method may be applicable to DNA extraction of rare samples as well as vouchering of regular fly samples.
Highlights
Most DNA extraction methods inevitably consume at least a small portion of biological specimens
Minor damages to samples do not matter in many instances and many small insect samples are even totally grinded for DNA extraction [1,2,3,4]
With the average yield (5.65 μμg), the same Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) ampli cation can be performed up to 113 times. erefore, the amount of DNA extracted with the nondestructive DNA extraction was sufficient for full coverage of most molecular markers for species identi cation, such as c oxidase subunit I (COI) and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2)
Summary
Most DNA extraction methods inevitably consume at least a small portion of biological specimens. In the case of forensically important y species, many authors have utilized small portions of the body such as legs, wings, thoracic muscle, and entire thorax [5,6,7,8,9]. Gilbert et al and Rowley et al applied Rohland’s method to beetles and various insect specimens and tested the DNA yields and qualities and degrees of damages to the exoskeletons [12, 13]. There has been no study which applied the nondestructive DNA extraction technique to forensically important y species. Yield (μμg) 3.14 1.67 1.38 6.70 15.38 5.65 nondestructive DNA extraction method for arti cially reared Phaenicia sericata (P. sericata) specimens and compared key morphological features before and a er DNA extraction
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