Martinelli Arturo B, Waichert Cecilia, Barbosa Diego N, Fagundes Valéria, Azevedo Celso O
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2017 Jul-Sep;89(3):1629-1633. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765201720160825. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
Genitalia are rich source of characters in insect taxonomy. Usually, they are examined after dissection and cleaning with potassium hydroxide (KOH), procedure that may damage both genital morphological structures and intracellular molecular contents. Enzymatic procedure with Proteinase K has been used to clean muscle off the genitalia while extract DNA, but its damage to the genital structures has not been evaluated. Herein, we qualitatively compare the use of KOH and Proteinase K to prepare genital structures in minute insects (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae). We show that Proteinase K is better to preserve the genital structure and provides quality DNA.
