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A Novel Method for Identifying Shahtoosh
Author(s) -
Fei Jing,
Yang Juan,
Zhou Hui,
Tang Minfeng,
Lu Weiming,
Yan An,
Hou Yin,
Zhang Shuyu
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12374
Subject(s) - dna , mitochondrial dna , fiber , population , wool , computational biology , biology , computer science , chromatography , chemistry , gene , genetics , materials science , medicine , composite material , environmental health , organic chemistry
Shahtoosh, the down hair of the T ibetan antelope ( P antholops hodgsonii ), is the noblest and most expensive wool in the world. The population of the animal has declined dramatically due to commercial poaching for the fiber. Traditional inspection for detection of shahtoosh has been performed by microscopic analysis. We developed a T aq M an real‐time PCR ‐based DNA analysis method for identifying shahtoosh fibers. A set of probe and primers for the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene that binds specifically to T ibetan antelope DNA was designed. A signal was detected with sensitivity to the 1:10,000 dilution of shahtoosh DNA . A fiber mixture of 1% of shahtoosh mixed with cashmere and even a single fiber can be detected with this method. The method is faster, more cost‐effective and more sensitive than other traditional sequencing methods and can be directly applied to identify shahtoosh and its processed products, which will be of value in illegal trade investigations.