Multiplex PCR-genetic differentiation of interspecies meat mixtures based on orthologous gene, Cytochrome-b. [electronic resource].

Includes references.

In this study, sequence analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene was applied for meat species identification. Six species meat origins which are commonly used in meat production and industry were sampled, viz, cattle, buffaloes, camels, pigs, goats and sheep. Five individuals from each species were tested for homogeneity. Based on conserved and divergent gene region, universal primers were designed and successfully produced species-specific amplicons which ranged from 134 bp to 562 bp. In this regard, two PCR approach were carried out, simplex and multiplex PCR. On the other hand, different combinations of meat mixtures were prepared and, also, different ratios of meat sources were obtained. A multiplex PCR was performed by mixing the six primers in appropriate ratios. The primers generated specific amplicons of ≈562, ≈476, ≈361, ≈271, ≈215 and ≈134 bp in length for cattle, buffaloes, camels, pigs, goats and sheep, respectively. The multiplex PCR proposed in this study might be considered as potential methods for identification of meat samples originated from different sources. In addition, the proposed method described herein supports its potentiality to detect meat contamination at low quantities. The results obtained confirm the power of mitochondrial Cyt-b gene to ortholog different species resources as well conspecific populations and thus, might be applied as a detection method in forensic applications in meat industry.

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