Identification of Megaselia scalaris (Diptera : Phoridae) based on morphology and mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI gene sequences

Abstract

Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae), commonly known as scuttle fly, is widely distributed all over the world. It is easily cultured in the laboratory condition making it a potential model organism. Besides, it has forensic importance. However, no report from Bangladesh could be retrieved about this fly. So, in the present study, identification of this species was attempted using both morphological and molecular approaches. Characteristics of male hypopygium and legs played key roles in morphological identification. To strengthen identification, mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA gene fragments were amplified and sequenced. Blast search at NCBI provided highest hits to available COI and 16S rRNA sequences of M. scalaris. A neighbor joining phylogenetic tree was built using sequences of respective COI gene region to show its relationship among other closely related dipteran flies.
 Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 25(2): 149-159, 2016 (July)

Parasitism of Soldiers of the Termite, Macrotermes gilvus (Hagen), by the Scuttle Fly, Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae)

“…Of these, 67 live larvae were kept in glass bottles and covered with an organdy cloth at room temperature for pupation, and the rest were preserved in 70% ethanol. The specimens were identified by taxonomic family using their morphological features: larva [22][23][24], pupa [23,24], and adult [23][24][25][26][27]. Adult flies were identified by genus and species by R.H.L.…”

“…A semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (semi-nested PCR) was used for amplifying the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene twice. The oligonucleotide primers were designed, based on the COI sequences of the Phorid fly from the reports [24,27,28], as the forward primer 5 -GGTCAACAAATCATAAAGATATTGG-3 and reverse primer 5 -TAGACTTCTGGGTGGCCAAAG AATCA-3 for the first amplification. The reverse primer that was used for the second amplification was newly designed based on the COI gene sequences of Megaselia scalaris obtained from the GenBank database as 5 -AATGATGTATTAAAATTTCG-3 .…”

Regulatory elements in the upstream region of metallothionein gene in tilapia species

“…DNA extraction and PCR amplification: DNA samples from three fish species were extracted by using CTAB method (8) . Targeted upstream region of mt gene was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using extracted DNA as template and visualized through electrophoresis in a 1.5% agarose gel (8) .…”

“…DNA extraction and PCR amplification: DNA samples from three fish species were extracted by using CTAB method (8) . Targeted upstream region of mt gene was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using extracted DNA as template and visualized through electrophoresis in a 1.5% agarose gel (8) . Temperature regimes for PCR were 95°C for 1 minute in denaturation, 56°C for 30s in annealing, and 72°C for 30s in extension for 30 cycles with a final polymerization step at 72°C for five minutes.…”

First detection of Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera: Phoridae) as a facultative endoparasitoid of Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

“…A pair of round anterior spiracles is found dorsolateral on the prothorax (Sukontason et al 2005). The adult M. scalaris is small (1-6 mm in length) with a humpbacked appearance, it can be distinguished by the following characters: Frons brownish-yellow, with dense fine microsetae; scutum brown dorsally; scutellum pale brownish-yellow, with two pair of bristles; costa extends more than half wing length, vein R 2 + 3 present; legs long, yellowish in color; mid-tibia without paired bristles; hind tibia without differentiated antero-dorsal hairs, with a dorsal hair palisade; hind femur with a brown tip; abdominal tergites dark brown with yellowish markings; palps straw yellow; tip of anal tube with feathered bristles (Alam et al 2016, Zhang et al 2017.…”