Identification of goat cashmere and sheep wool by PCR-RFLP analysis of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene

Abstract

The efficacy of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene in identification of goat cashmere and sheep wool samples was evaluated. The specific fragments of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, which were about 440 bp, were obtained using the PCR. Restriction enzyme digestion of the PCR products with endonucleases BspT I and Hinf I revealed species-specific RFLP patterns. Application of this technique on mixed samples could identify goat cashmere and sheep wool from each other within the proportion of 8:1. The technique, however, could detect only one species when the proportion of mixture was more than 9:1. The PCR-RFLP technique was demonstrated to possess potential value in precise identification of goat cashmere and sheep wool.

Keywords::

• Goat cashmere
• sheep wool
• 12S rRNA gene
• PCR-RFLP

Declaration of interest : This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 31101684 and 31101747) and the Major Projects for New Varieties of Genetically Modified Organisms of China (2011ZX08008-002). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.