Automated DNA extraction of single dog hairs without roots for mitochondrial DNA analysis

• Published in: Forensic science international : genetics Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 277 - 281
• Main Authors: Bekaert, Bram, Larmuseau, Maarten H.D, Vanhove, Maarten P.M, Opdekamp, Anouschka, Decorte, Ronny
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01.03.2012
• Subjects: Animals; DNA Fingerprinting - instrumentation; DNA Primers; DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics; DNA, Mitochondrial - isolation & purification; Dogs - genetics; Electrophoresis; Hair - chemistry; Pathology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Hair; Mitochondrial DNA; Canis lupus familiaris; Dog; Haplotype
• ISSN: 1872-4973; 1878-0326
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2011.04.009

Abstract Dogs are intensely integrated in human social life and their shed hairs can play a major role in forensic investigations. The overall aim of this study was to validate a semi-automated extraction method for mitochondrial DNA analysis of telogenic dog hairs. Extracted DNA was amplified with a 95% success rate from 43 samples using two new experimental designs in which the mitochondrial control region was amplified as a single large (±1260 bp) amplicon or as two individual amplicons (HV1 and HV2; ±650 and 350 bp) with tailed-primers. The results prove that the extraction of dog hair mitochondrial DNA can easily be automated to provide sufficient DNA yield for the amplification of a forensically useful long mitochondrial DNA fragment or alternatively two short fragments with minimal loss of sequence in case of degraded samples.