title: Effectiveness of single-nucleotide polymorphisms to investigate cattle rustling.
abstract: Short tandem repeats (STR)s have been the eligible markers for forensic animal genetics, despite single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s became acceptable. The technology, the type, and amount of markers could limit the investigation in degraded forensic samples. The performance of a 32-SNP panel genotyped through OpenArrays(TM) (real-time PCR based) was evaluated to resolve cattle-specific forensic cases. DNA from different biological sources was used, including samples from an alleged instance of cattle rustling. SNPs and STRs performance and repeatability were compared. SNP call rate was variable among sample type (average = 80.18%), while forensic samples showed the lowest value (70.94%). The repeatability obtained (98.7%) supports the used technology. SNPs had better call rates than STRs in 12 of 20 casework samples, while forensic index values were similar for both panels. In conclusion, the 32-SNPs used are as informative as the standard bovine STR battery and hence are suitable to resolve cattle rustling investigations.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Genética Veterinaria (IGEVET), CCT La Plata - CONICET - Fac Cs Veterinarias, UNLP, 60 Y 118 S/N, 1900, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: María E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rogberg-Muñoz
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lirón
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Goszczynski
authors.forename: María V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ripoli
authors.forename: Mónica H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Carino
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peral-García
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giovambattista
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D003415:Crime; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: bovine; cattle rustling; forensic genetic identification; forensic science; microsatellite; non-human forensic; single-nucleotide polymorphism