Abstract
In recent years, evidence from domestic dogs has increasingly been analyzed by forensic DNA testing. Especially, canine hairs have proved most suitable and practical due to the high rate of hair transfer occurring between dogs and humans. Starting with the description of a contamination-free sample handling procedure, we give a detailed workflow for sequencing hypervariable segments (HVS) of the mtDNA control region from canine evidence. After the hair material is lysed and the DNA extracted by Phenol/Chloroform, the amplification and sequencing strategy comprises the HVS I and II of the canine control region and is optimized for DNA of medium-to-low quality and quantity. The sequencing procedure is based on the Sanger Big-dye deoxy-terminator method and the separation of the sequencing reaction products is performed on a conventional multicolor fluorescence detection capillary electrophoresis platform. Finally, software-aided base calling and sequence interpretation are addressed exemplarily.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Eichmann C, Berger B, Parson W (2004) A proposed nomenclature for 15 canine-specific polymorphic STR loci for forensic purposes. Int J Legal Med 118: 249–266
Eichmann C, Berger B, Reinhold M et al (2004) Canine-specific STR typing of saliva traces on dog bite wounds. Int J Legal Med 118(6): 337–342
Hellmann AP, Rohleder U, Eichmann C, et al (2006) A proposal for standardization in forensic canine DNA typing: allele nomenclature of six canine-specific STR loci; J Forensic Sci 51: 274–281
Berger C, Berger B, Parson W (2009) Canine DNA Profiling in Forensic Casework: The Tail Wagging the Dog. Forensic Sci Rev 21(1): 1–13
Van Asch B, Alves C, Gusmão L et al (2009) A new autosomal STR nineplex for canine identification and parentage testing. Electrophoresis 30(2): 417–23
Tom BK, Koskinen MT, Dayton M et al (2010) Development of a nomenclature system for a canine STR multiplex reagent kit. J Forensic Sci 55(3): 597–604
Zenke P, Egyed B, Zöldág L et al (2010) Population genetic study in Hungarian canine populations using forensically informative STR loci. Forensic Sci Int: Genetics doi 10.1016/j.fsigen.2010.03.013
Parson W, Parsons TJ, Scheithauer R et al (1998) Population data for 101 Austrian Caucasian mitochondrial DNA d-loop sequences: application of mtDNA sequence analysis to a forensic case. Int J Legal Med 111: 124–132
Melton T, Dimick G, Higgins B et al (2005) Forensic mitochondrial DNA analysis of 691 casework hairs. J Forensic Sci 50(1): 73–80
Eichmann C, Parson W (2008) ‘Mitominis’: multiplex PCR analysis of reduced size amplicons for compound sequence analysis of the entire mtDNA control region in highly degraded samples. Int J Legal Med 122: 385–388
Berger C, Parson W (2009) Mini-midi-mito: Adapting the amplification and sequencing strategy of mtDNA to the degradation state of crime scene samples. Forensic Sci Int: Genetics: 149–153
Kim KS, Lee SE, Jeong HW et al (1998) The complete nucleotide sequence of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) mitochondrial genome. Mol Phylogenet Evol 10(2): 210–220
Pereira L, Van Asch B, Amorim A (2004) Standardisation of nomenclature for dog mtDNA D-loop: a prerequisite for launching a Canis familiaris database. Forensic Sci Int 141(2-3): 99–108
Eichmann C and Parson W (2007) Molecular characterization of the canine mitochondrial DNA control region for forensic applications. Int J Legal Med 121(5): 411–16
Gundry RL Allard MW Moretti TR et al (2007) Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the domestic dog: control region variation within and among breeds. J Forensic Sci 52(3): 562–72
Desmyter S, Comblez S (2009) Belgian dog mitochondrial DNA database for forensics. Forensic Sci Int: Genetics Supplement Series 2(1): 286–287
Anderson S, Bankier AT, Barrell BG et al (1981) Sequence and organization of the human mitochondrial genome. Nature 290: 457–465
Andrews RM, Kubacka I, Chinnery PF et al (1999) Reanalysis and revision of the Cambridge reference sequence for human mitochondrial DNA. Nat Genet 23: 147
Aaspollu A, Kelve M (2003) The first criminal case in Estonia with dog’s DNA data admitted as evidence. Proceedings - Int Congress Series 1239: 847–851
Savolainen P, Rosen B, Holmberg A, et al (1997) Sequence analysis of domestic dog mitochondrial DNA for forensic use. J Forensic Sci 42(4): 593–600
Savolainen P, Lundeberg J (1999) Forensic evidence based on mtDNA from dog and wolf hairs. J Forensic Sci 44(1): 77–81
Halverson JL, Basten C (2005) Forensic DNA identification of animal-derived trace evidence: tools for linking victims and suspects. Croat Med J 46: 598–605
Angleby H, Savolainen P (2005) Forensic informativity of domestic dog mtDNA control region sequences. Forensic Sci In 154(2–3):99–110
Nakamura H, Muro T, Imamura S et al (2009) Forensic species identification based on size variation of mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions. Int J Legal Med 123: 177–184
Fridez F, Rochat S, Coquoz R (1999) Individual identification of cats and dogs using mitochondrial DNA tandem repeats? Sci Justice 39: 167–171
Savolainen P, Arvestad L, Lundeberg J (2000) A novel method for forensic DNA investigations: repeat-type sequence analysis of tandemly repeated mtDNA in domestic dogs. J Forensic Sci 45: 990–999
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Anna König for helpful assistance and discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Berger, C., Berger, B., Parson, W. (2012). Sequence Analysis of the Canine Mitochondrial DNA Control Region from Shed Hair Samples in Criminal Investigations. In: Alonso, A. (eds) DNA Electrophoresis Protocols for Forensic Genetics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 830. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-461-2_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-461-2_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-460-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-461-2
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols