Validating Sonication as a DNA Extraction Method for Use With Carrion Flies

• NCJ Number: 252406
• Author(s): Trevor Stamper, E. Scott Wong, Alicia Timm, Ronald W. DeBry
• Date Published: June 2017
• Length: 7 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: DNA-based Identification of Forensically Important Diptera

Annotation

This article reports on a research project that investigated sonication as a primary means of non-destructive DNA extraction from carrion flies.

Abstract

Since entomological evidence can be critical in establishing a postmortem interval estimate, DNA-based species identification can be an extremely valuable tool for forensic entomology. The current research examined whether sonication can process such samples in a consistent, cost-effective manner that retains the morphological attributes of the specimen for vouchering. Researchers analyzed the efficacy of this technique and compared it to an established DNA extraction technique — the Qiagen DNeasy tissue kit. The results indicate that sonication produces a significant reduction in the sequence length and lower PHRED quality scores when compared to sequences using DNA obtained using the DNeasy kit, but species identification and phylogenetic inferences between sonication and DNeasy extractions are equivalent. (Publisher abstract modified)