Molecular markers and phylogeny of genera Silpha, Phosphuga and Ablattaria
The subfamily Silphinae is a broadly spread subfamily of carrion beetles. As the common name implicates, they play important role in decomposing organic matter and therefore are commonly used in forensic entomology. Within the subfamily the position of several genera is not stably defined, these discrepancies can be solved by using molecular markers to look into phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily. Molecular markers are in general powerful tool in revealing phylogenetic relationships as well as species identification. The goal of the thesis is to obtain general knowledge of molecular techniques used for phylogenetic studies, learn to obtain own data from samples stored in 96 % EtOH, and reveal the phylogenetic relationship of the genera Silpha, Phosphuga, and Ablattaria based on three genes – COI, 16S and Wingless.
Type: Bachelor/Diploma thesis Mentor: Ing. Pavel Jakubec, Ph.D. Versions: česky/english
Population ecology of forensically important species Lucilia sericata in the Czech Republic
Lucilia sericata is one of the most abundant and widespread species of family Calliphoridae in the Czech Republic. Due to this, it become also one of the most important indicator species in forensic entomology. Its developmental instars are used to determine time of death or prove neglect and abuse during criminal-legal cases. However, because of the species’ abundance over wide range of places and habitats, its utility for detection of postmortem body manipulation (transfer of body between sites) is very limited. The goal of the thesis is to analyze population structure of the species using sensitive microsatelite DNA markers and reveal the scale at which each population can be separated from others as accurately as possible.
Type: Bachelor/Diploma thesis Mentor: Ing. Pavel Jakubec, Ph.D. Versions: česky/english
Thanatophilus (Coleoptera: Silphinae) thermal biology and its importance to the forensic science
The project aims to study the variability in Thanatophilus (Coleoptera: Silphidae) species' thermal biology. Thanatophilus species are widely distributed and mainly necrophagous, making them highly valuable for forensic sciences. The thermal biology variability will be calculated using two measurements categories: thermal performance and failure temperatures (see Sinclair et al. 2012). The thermal Summation Model will be calculated as a thermal performance measurement, modeling the relationships between developmental length and thermal. Critical Thermal minima and maxima (CTmin and CTmax) will be calculated for failure temperatures measurements. CTmin and CTmax are based on the species' lower and upper thermal limits, approximating the species ecological and distributional temperature limits (see Ali et al. 2019; Sunday et al. 2019). The use of insect’s thermal biology is a standard procedure in forensic investigations used for estimates such as Thermal Summation Model and Post-mortem Interval. In species presenting broad geographical distribution, thermal biology measurements can be biased due to the species phenotypic plasticity.
Type: Bachelor/Diploma thesis Mentor: Ing. Pavel Jakubec, Ph.D. Versions: english only