Abstract
To identify species based on samples without recognizable morphological characteristics, DNA-based approaches are the best option. Here, we describe two cases of the determination of species and geographical origin of wildlife specimens under the regulation of international treaties and domestic laws related to wildlife management in South Korea. First, hairs of suspected wild or reared endangered Asiatic black bears were analyzed using cytochrome oxidase I and the control region. Confiscated Felidae leathers were also investigated using cytochrome b, but they were proven to be fabricated canine leathers. These results were used as scientific evidence for wildlife-related law enforcement. Our results suggest that unrecognizable wildlife specimens can be identified efficiently using DNA sequence-based analysis. Finally, this study shows that conservation genetics research and its applications can be incorporated into wildlife forensic studies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aliabadian M, Kaboli M., Nijman V, and Vences M. (2009) Molecular identification of birds: performance of distance-based DNA barcoding in three genes to delimit parapatric species. PlosOne 4: e4119.
Avis JC (2000) Phylogeography: the history and formation of species. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Birstein VJ, Doukakis P, Sorkin B, and DeSalle R (1998) Population aggregation analysis of three caviar-producing species of sturgeons and implications for the species identification of black caviar. Conserv. Biol. 12:766–775.
Branicki W, Kupiec T, and Pawlowsski R (2003) Validation of cytochrome b sequence analysis as a method of species identification. J. Forensic Sci. 48: 83–87.
Castresana, J (2001) Cytochrome b phylogeny and the taxonomy of great apes and mammals. Mol. Bio. Evol. 18: 465–471.
Dalvi V (2009) Barking mad! Frauds try to pass off ‘dog’ skins as tigers’ MumbaiMirror.com http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2009090720090907023122317abb565f/Barking-mad-Frauds-try-to-pass-off-%E2%80%98dog%E2%80%99-skins-as-tigers%E2%80%99.html. Accessed 7 September 2009
Dawny N, Ogden R, McEwing R, Carvalho GR, and Thorpe RS (2007) Validation of the barcoding gene COI for use in forensic genetic species identification. Forensic Sci. Int. 173: 1–6.
Delisle I and Strobeck C (2002) Conserved primers for rapid sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome from carnivores, applied to three species of bears. Mol. Biol. Evol. 19: 357–361.
Eaton MJ, Meyers GL, Kolokotronis SO, Leslie MS, Martin AP, and Amato G (2010) Barcoding bushmeat: molecular identification of central African and South American harvested vertebrates. Conserv. Genet. 11: 1389–1404.
Han S-H (2006) The status of bears and restoration projects on the Korean Penisula. In Understanding Asian Bears to Secure Their Future. Japan Bear Network, eds., Ibaraki Printing Co. Ibaraki, Japan, pp 102–106.
Herbert PDN, Cywinska A, Ball SL, and DeWaard JR (2003) Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proc R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 270: 313–321.
Hwang DS, Ki JS, Jeong DH, Kim BH, Lee BK, Han SH, and Lee JS (2008) A comprehensive analysis of three Asiatic black bear mitochondrial genomes (subspecies ussuricus, formosanus and mupinensis), with emphasis on the complete mtDNA sequence of Ursus thibetanus ussuricus (Ursidae). Mitochondrial DNA 19: 418–429.
Kim YK, Hong YJ, Min MS, Kim KS, Kim YJ, Voloshina I, Myslenkov A, Smith GJD, Cuong ND, Tho HH, Han SH, Yang DH, Kim CB, and Lee H (2011) Genetic status of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) reintroduced into South Korea based on mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite loci analysis. J. Hered. 102: 165–174.
Kumar S, Nei M, Dudley J, and Tamura K. (2008) MEGA: a biologist-centric software for evolutionary analysis of DNA and protein sequences. Brief. Bioinform. 9: 299–306.
Larkin MA, Blackshields G, Brown NP, Chenna R, McGettigan PA, McWilliam H, Valentin F, Wallace IM, Wilm A, Lopez R, et al. (2007) Clustal W and Clustal X version 2.0. Bioinformatics 23: 2947–2948.
Lorenzini R, Cabras P, Fanelli R, and Carboni GL (2011) Wildlife molecular forensics: Identification of the Sardinian mouflon using STR profiling and the Bayesian assignment test. Forensic Science International: Genetics 5:345–349.
Luo SJ, Kim JH, Johnson WE, van der Walt J, Martenson J, Yuhki N, Miquelle DG, Uphyrkina O, Goodrich JM, Quigley HB, et al. (2004) Phylogeography and genetic ancestry of tigers (Phanthera tigris). PLoS Biology 2(12): e442.
Marko PB, Lee SC, Rice AM, Gramling JM, Fizhenry TM, McAlister JS, Harper GR, and Moran AL (2004) Mislabeling of a depleted reef fish. Nature 430: 309–310.
Maté ML, Rocco FD, Zambelli A and Vidal-Rioja L (2004) Mitochondrial DNA structure and organization of the control region of South American camelids. Mol. Ecol. Notes 4:765–767.
MOE (2007) The Genetic Evaluation of Important Biological Resources. Ministry of the Environment, Seoul, pp 135–155.
Ogden R, Dawnay N, and McEwing R (2009) Wildlife DNA forensics-bridging the gap between conservation genetics and law enforcement. Endang. Spec. Res. 9: 179–195.
Parson W, Pegoraro K, Niederstatter H, Foger M, and Steinlechner M (2000) Species identification by mean of the cytochrome b gene. Int. J. Legal. Med. 114: 23–28.
Pereira F, Carneiro J, and van Asch B (2010) A guide for mitochondrial DNA analysis in non-human forensic investigations. The Open Foren. Sci. J. 3: 33–44.
Roman J and Bowen BW (2000) The mock turtle syndrome: genetic identification of turtle meat purchased in the south-eastern United States of America. Anim. Conserv. 3: 61–65.
Tamura K, Nei M, and Kumar S (2004) Prospects for inferring very large phylogenies by using the neighbor-joining method. Proc. Natl. Acad. USA 101: 11030–11035.
Tamura K, Dudley J, Nei M, and Kumar S (2007) MEGA4: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software version 4.0. Mol. Biol. Evol. 24:1596–1599.
Verma SK and Singh L (2003) Novel universal primers establish identify of an enormous number of animal species for forensic application. Mol. Ecol. Notes 3: 28–31.
Verma SK, Prasad K, Nagesh N, Sultana M, and Singh L (2003) Was exclusive carnivore a panther? DNA typing of faeces reveals the mystery. Forensic Sci. Int. 137: 16–20.
Wasser S, Clark WJ, Drori O, Kisamo ES, Mailand C, Mutayoba B, and Stephens M (2008) Combating the Illegal Trade in African Elephant Ivory with DNA Forensics. Conserv. Biol. 22: 1065–1071.
Yan P, Wu X-B, Shi Y, Gu C-M. Wang R-P, and Wang C-L (2005) Identification of Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) meat by diagnostic PCR of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Biol. Conserv. 121: 45–51.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jun, J., Han, S.H., Jeong, TJ. et al. Wildlife forensics using mitochondrial DNA sequences: Species identification based on hairs collected in the field and confiscated tanned Felidae leathers. Genes Genom 33, 721–726 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-011-0080-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-011-0080-7