Species identification in meat products: A new screening method based on high resolution melting analysis of cyt b gene

Meat adulteration by substitution with lower value products and/or mislabeling involves economic, health, quality and socio-religious issues. Therefore, identification and traceability of meat species has become an important subject to detect possible fraudulent practices. In the present study the development of a high resolution melt (HRM) screening method for the identification of eight common meat species is reported. Samples from Bos taurus, Ovis aries, Sus scrofa domestica, Equus caballus, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Gallus gallus domesticus, Meleagris gallopavo and Coturnix coturnix were analyzed through the amplification of a 148 bp fragment from the cyt b gene with a universal primer pair in HRM analyses. Melting profiles from each species, as well as from several DNA mixtures of these species and blind samples, allowed a successful species differentiation. The results demonstrated that the HRM method here proposed is a fast, reliable, and low-cost screening technique.

Two ovine mitochondrial DNAs harboring a fifth 75/76 bp repeat motif without altered gene expression in Northern Spain

The Basque Country is home to the Latxa sheep breed, which is divided in several varieties such as Latxa Black Face (LBKF) and Latxa Blonde Face (LBLF). Mitochondrial DNA control region analysis of 174 male sheep (97 LBKF and 77 LBLF) was performed with the objective of characterizing the maternal lineages of these two varieties that are the basis to produce the cheese with Idiazabal quality label. The percentage of unique haplotypes was 77.32% in LBKF and 67.53% in LBLF. Most of the individuals were classified into B haplogroup (98.85%), while A haplogroup was much less frequent. Two Latxa individuals (one LBKF and one LBLF), both belonging to B haplogroup, displayed an additional 75/76 bp tandem repeat motif. Only 33 other sequences with this repeat motif were found among 11 061 sheep sequences included in the GenBank database. Gene expression was analyzed in peripheral blood leukocytes since the additional 75/76 bp repeat motif falls within ETAS1, a domain with a possible function in regulation of replication and transcription. The mRNA expression from four mitochondrial genes (COI, cyt b, ND1, and ND2) was analyzed in the two individuals of this study with a fifth repeat motif and in four without it. Although lower transcription was observed when the additional 75/76 bp repeat motif was present, no statistically significant differences were observed. Therefore, the variation in the number of the 75/76 repeat motif does not seem to modify the gene expression rate in mitochondrial genes.

New cyt b gene universal primer set for forensic analysis

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA, and in particular the cytochrome b gene (cyt b), has become an essential tool for species identification in routine forensic practice. In cases of degraded samples, where the DNA is fractionated, universal primers that are highly efficient for the amplification of the target region are necessary. Therefore, in the present study a new universal cyt b primer set with high species identification capabilities, even in samples with highly degraded DNA, has been developed. In order to achieve this objective, the primers were designed following the alignment of complete sequences of the cyt b from 751 species from the Class of Mammalia listed in GenBank. A highly variable region of 148bp flanked by highly conserved sequences was chosen for placing the primers. The effectiveness of the new pair of primers was examined in 63 animal species belonging to 38 Families from 14 Orders and 5 Classes (Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Actinopterygii, and Malacostraca). Species determination was possible in all cases, which shows that the fragment analyzed provided a high capability for species identification. Furthermore, to ensure the efficiency of the 148bp fragment, the intraspecific variability was analyzed by calculating the concordance between individuals with the BLAST tool from the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnological Information). The intraspecific concordance levels were superior to 97% in all species. Likewise, the phylogenetic information from the selected fragment was confirmed by obtaining the phylogenetic tree from the sequences of the species analyzed. Evidence of the high power of phylogenetic discrimination of the analyzed fragment of the cyt b was obtained, as 93.75% of the species were grouped within their corresponding Orders. Finally, the analysis of 40 degraded samples with small-size DNA fragments showed that the new pair of primers permits identifying the species, even when the DNA is highly degraded as it is very common in forensic samples.