title: Identification of the forensically important beetles Nicrophorus japonicus, Ptomascopus plagiatus and Silpha carinata (Coleoptera: Silphidae) based on 16S rRNA gene in China.
abstract: Sarcophagous beetles play an important role in estimating postmortem interval   time (PMI) in the later stages decomposition of carcasses. However, the morphological   similarity of beetles usually poses a challenge for forensic scientists within their routine   work. As a supplementary to traditional morphological method, molecular genetics   identification is simple and time-saving. A molecular identification method involving a 288-bp   segment of the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene from 15 beetles of Silphidae (Coleoptera),   collected from 5 locations in 4 Chinese provinces, was evaluated. Phenogram analysis of the   sequenced segments by the unweighted pairgroup method analysis (UPGMA) method showed   that all specimens were properly assigned into four species with strong similarity, which   indicated the possibility of separation congeneric species with the short 16S rRNA fragment.   These results will be instrumental for implementation of the Chinese database of forensically   relevant beetles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Z C
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: X W
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: X L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry*; D044707:Forensic Sciences / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S