Animal Species Identification through High Resolution Melting Real Time PCR (HRM) of the Mitochondrial 16S RRNA Gene

Abstract

Animal species identification has received growing attention, regarding genetic diversity and food traceability. The objective of this study is to apply a universal primer of part of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene analysis using the PCR-RFLP and HRM methods for identification of species origin in cattle, chicken, horse, sheep, pig, buffalo, and goat. PCR product size was 512 bp. The PCR product of 16S rRNA was digested with two restriction enzymes (BclI and MseI); sufficient to easily generate analyzable species-specific restriction profiles that could distinguish the unambiguity of all targeted species. The HRM method successfully identified all species by shape of melting temperature, and proved to be of higher resolution, and a more cost effective, alternative method compared with other identification techniques.