title: Developing equine mtDNA profiling for forensic application.
abstract: Horse mtDNA profiling can be useful in forensic work investigating degraded samples, hair shafts or highly dilute samples. Degraded DNA often does not allow sequencing of fragments longer than 200 nucleotides. In this study we therefore search for the most discriminatory sections within the hypervariable horse mtDNA control region. Among a random sample of 39 horses, 32 different sequences were identified in a stretch of 921 nucleotides. The sequences were assigned to the published mtDNA types A-G, and to a newly labelled minor type H. The random match probability within the analysed samples is 3.61%, and the average pairwise sequence difference is 15 nucleotides. In a "sliding window" analysis of 200-nucleotide sections of the mtDNA control region, we find that the known repetitive central motif divides the mtDNA control region into a highly diverse segment and a markedly less discriminatory segment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Genetics, 48161, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Susan M R
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gurney
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pflugradt
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Anna Catharina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brinkmann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forster
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis*; D053803:Forensic Genetics / Q000379:methods*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006736:Horses / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D019901:Locus Control Region; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial