TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR for identification of antlers in tradition Chinese medicine

Abstract

In this study, a method was established for discriminating the true Cervus antlers from its counterfeits using TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR. The method combines the use of true Cervus antlers-specific primers, that amplify a 226 bp fragment from true Cervus antlers DNA, and mammalian-specific primers amplifying a 146 bp fragment from mammalian species DNA, which are used as endogenous control. A TaqMan probe that hybridizes in the ‘Cervus antler’ and also in the ‘mammalian’ DNA fragments is used to monitor the amplification of the target gene. The Cervus antler mitochondrial DNA was used as target gene to design the primers and TaqMan probes. The data revealed that the TaqMan real-time PCR-based assay can be used for identification of the true Cervus antlers from counterfeits in a single step. The limit of detection (LOD) was lower than 1 pg of DNA per reaction.

Keywords:

• Cervus antlers
• real-time quantitative PCR
• identification
• TaqMan probe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grant 18DZ2292200 from 2018 Special research and development platform of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.