DNA barcoding and the differentiation between North American and West European Phormia regina (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Chrysomyinae).
Phormia regina (the black fly) is a common Holarctic blow fly species which serves as a primary indicator taxon to estimate minimal post mortem intervals. It is also a major research model in physiological and neurological studies on insect feeding. Previous studies have shown a sequence divergence of up to 4.3% in the mitochondrial COI gene between W European and N American P. regina populations. Here, we DNA barcoded P. regina specimens from six N American and 17 W European populations and confirmed a mean sequence divergence of ca. 4% between the populations of the two continents, while sequence divergence within each continent was a ten-fold lower. Comparable mean mtDNA sequence divergences were observed for COII (3.7%) and cyt b (5.3%), but mean divergence was lower for 16S (0.4-0.6%). Intercontinental divergence at nuclear DNA was very low (≤ 0.1% for both 28S and ITS2), and we did not detect any morphological differentiation between N American and W European specimens. Therefore, we consider the strong differentiation at COI, COII and cyt b as intraspecific mtDNA sequence divergence that should be taken into account when using P. regina in forensic casework or experimental research.
Royal Museum for Central Africa, Department of Biology (JEMU), Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium ; University of Antwerp, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
Kurt
K
Jordaens
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny (JEMU), Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Gontran
G
Sonet
National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
Yves
Y
Braet
Royal Museum for Central Africa, Department of Biology (JEMU), Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium.
Marc
M
De Meyer
University of Antwerp, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium ; Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, OD Taxonomy and Phylogeny (JEMU), Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry
T
Backeljau
University of Antwerp, Evolutionary Ecology Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
Frankie
F
Goovaerts
National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
Luc
L
Bourguignon
National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
Stijn
S
Desmyter
16S; 28S; Black fly; COI; COII; ITS2; cyt b