Objectives This preliminary study was carried out to determine the allele frequencies and forensic efficiency parameters for the short tandem repeat loci CSF1PO, TPOX, THO1, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, vWA, FESFPS and F13B in a test sample population of Sri Lankans. Design Test samples were obtained from 305 nonrelated individuals originating from all 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. DNA was extracted from whole blood using chelex-100 and amplified by PCR using the GenePrint STR kit and silver stained. Final DNA profiles were analysed for forensic efficiency parameters and paternity indices using PowerStats version 12. Possible divergence from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was tested using the chi-square test and exact test. Results All common alleles in the allelic ladders were found in the test sample studied. PIC values >0.5 for all 9 STR loci indicate this STR system to be informative and useful for identification purposes. The D13S317, vWA and D7S820 loci were found to be the most polymorphic markers of the system studied. Conclusions No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium were found for any of the loci examined. The results indicate that the 9 STR loci system described here is suitable for estimating DNA profile frequencies in human identification and forensic and parentage testing for legal purposes among Sri Lankans.

No abstract

Background. Aedes aegypti is a major vector of arboviruses that may be controlled on an area-wide basis, using novel approaches such as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT). Larval diet is a critical factor to be considered in mass rearing of Aedes mosquitoes for SIT and IIT programs. Therefore, the current study is aimed at evaluating the effects of two novel diets developed from dry fish powder on the growth and development of immature stages and adult fitness-related characteristics of Ae. aegypti in Sri Lanka. Method. Three batches of the first instar Ae. aegypti larva, each containing 250 larvae, were exposed to three different larval diets as standard dry fish powder (D1), dry fish powder meal and brewer’s yeast (D2), and International Atomic Energy Agency- (IAEA-) recommended diet (D3), separately. Morphometric and developmental parameters of the 4th instar larvae, pupae, and adult mosquitoes reared under different dietary treatments were measured. The entire experimental setup was replicated thrice. A General Linear Model (GLM) in the form of two-way ANOVA was used for the statistical analysis. Results. Significant diet-based variations were observed in the head length, head width, thoracic length, thoracic width, abdominal length, abdominal width, and total length ( F 2 , 87 > 4.811 ; P < 0.05 ) of Ae. aegypti larvae. The highest pupation success and the larval size were observed from the larvae fed the D2 diet, while the lowest was reported from D1. All adult morphometric parameters of adult male and female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes also denoted significant dietary variations, reporting the best-sized adults from the D2 diet ( F 2 , 87 > 3.54 ; P < 0.05 ). Further, significantly higher fecundity and male longevity were also shown by the adult Ae. aegypti ( F 2 , 6 > 7.897 ; P < 0.01 ) mosquitoes reared under diet D2. Conclusion. Based on all the growth and developmental parameters, the D2 diet tends to perform similar to the IAEA-recommended diet in mass rearing of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, while being more inexpensive. Therefore, larval diet D2 could be suggested as the ideal diet for mass rearing of Ae. aegypti for IIT and SIT-based vector control in Sri Lanka.