title: Identification of the Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) by copro-DNA diagnosis.
abstract: Studies on feeding habits based on faeces dissecting are imperative to understand the natural history of Tibetan foxes and their functions in the transmission of a lethal zoonotic parasite, Echinococcus multilocularis. However, Tibetan foxes and red foxes live sympatrically on the Tibetan plateau, China. Therefore, the faeces of Tibetan foxes must be distinguished from those of red foxes. We established a diagnostic method to distinguish the faeces of the two species by amplifying a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) and digesting with the restriction enzymes BamHI and SspI, to produce specific diagnostic banding patterns. This PCR-RFLP assay enabled rapid, accurate and easily performed identification and differentiation of the two species.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Weibin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhenghuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics*; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry / Q000469:parasitology; D005589:Foxes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth; D045303:Cytochromes b