Heimkumar, Veerayutharani
(2022)
DNA availability from fly maggots
infesting on varied beef meat conditions.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
The aim of this research was to identify the availability of meat DNA that is available from
fly maggots that has been feeding on beef meat. This research was carried out to determine
which stage of the fly maggots are a suitable option for the DNA extraction and analysis of
meat DNA. By extracting DNA from the fly maggots, the field of forensic entomology and
forensic biology can be used together to identify victim cadavers when the maggots are not
being used for PMI estimation or when the victims’ body is not suitable for identification.
In this study, three conditions of beef meat were placed at three different field location
concurrently and the first instar, second instar and third instar maggots were collected. At
the same time, the beef meat samples were also collected. Unfortunately, the dried beef
meat sample had to be excluded due to the absence of flies and maggots on the meat up to
two weeks from the initial set-up. The results showed that the concentration of nucleic acid
is generally higher in the meat samples compared to the maggots except for the first instar
maggots. The high nucleic acid concentration in the first instar maggot is most probably
due to the presence of maggot DNA as more maggots were used for the first instar maggot
DNA extraction compared to the second and third instar maggots. After PCR amplification
using the bovine cytochrome B primer, the target gene was successfully amplified for the
second and third instar maggots from the fresh beef meat sample. In contrast, the target
gene was not successfully amplified for the maggots from the frozen beef meat condition.
In conclusion, the second and third instar maggots can be used for the DNA extraction
when the meat is fresh, and more research must be done for the frozen meat and dried meat
on the DNA availability.
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