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Mitochondrial DNA Sequencing of Cat Hair: An Informative Forensic Tool *
Author(s) -
Tarditi Christy R.,
Grahn Robert A.,
Evans Jeffrey J.,
Kurushima Jennifer D.,
Lyons Leslie A.
Publication year - 2011
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/j.1556-4029.2010.01592.x
Subject(s) - mitochondrial dna , forensic science , computational biology , forensic genetics , biology , dna sequencing , dna , genetics , evolutionary biology , microsatellite , gene , allele
Approximately 81.7 million cats are in 37.5 million U.S. households. Shed fur can be criminal evidence because of transfer to victims, suspects, and/or their belongings. To improve cat hairs as forensic evidence, the mtDNA control region from single hairs, with and without root tags, was sequenced. A dataset of a 402‐bp control region segment from 174 random‐bred cats representing four U.S. geographic areas was generated to determine the informativeness of the mtDNA region. Thirty‐two mtDNA mitotypes were observed ranging in frequencies from 0.6–27%. Four common types occurred in all populations. Low heteroplasmy, 1.7%, was determined. Unique mitotypes were found in 18 individuals, 10.3% of the population studied. The calculated discrimination power implied that 8.3 of 10 randomly selected individuals can be excluded by this region. The genetic characteristics of the region and the generated dataset support the use of this cat mtDNA region in forensic applications.