Acceptance of domestic cat mitochondrial DNA in a criminal proceeding.

Shed hair from domestic animals readily adheres to clothing and other contact items, providing a source of transfer evidence for criminal investigations. Mitochondrial DNA is often the only option for DNA analysis of shed hair. Human mitochondrial DNA analysis has been accepted in the US court system since 1996.

Canine population data generated from a multiplex STR kit for use in forensic casework.

Canine biological specimens are often part of the physical evidence from crime scenes. Until now, there have been no validated canine-specific forensic reagent kits available. A multiplex genotyping system, comprising 18 short tandem repeats (STRs) and a sex-linked zinc finger locus for gender determination, was developed for generating population genetic data assessing the weight of canine forensic DNA profiles.

Developmental validation of short tandem repeat reagent kit for forensic DNA profiling of canine biological material.

Aim: To develop a reagent kit that enables multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of 18 short tandem repeats (STR) and the canine sex-determining Zinc Finger marker.

Methods: Validation studies to determine the robustness and reliability in forensic DNA typing of this multiplex assay included sensitivity testing, reproducibility studies, intra- and inter-locus color balance studies, annealing temperature and cycle number studies, peak height ratio determination, characterization of artifacts such as stutter percentages and dye blobs, mixture analyses, species-specificity, case type samples analyses and population studies.

Results: The kit robustly amplified domesticated dog samples and consistently generated full 19-locus profiles from as little as 125 pg of dog DNA.

Forensic DNA identification of animal-derived trace evidence: tools for linking victims and suspects.

Aim: To evaluate the population substructure of purebred dogs and cats in order to estimate the true significance of a microsatellite-based DNA match for use as evidence in legal proceedings. The high frequency of animal hair as a forensic evidence submission necessitates the development of mitochondrial analysis tools as well.

Methods: Random samples from a large convenience collection of veterinary diagnostic submissions from the western USA were used, as well as contributed samples of unrelated purebred cats and dogs.

A PCR multiplex and database for forensic DNA identification of dogs.

Animal-derived trace evidence is a common finding at crime scenes and may provide an important link between victim(s) and suspect(s). A database of 558 dogs of pure and mixed breeds is described and analyzed with two PCR multiplexes of 17 microsatellites. Summary statistics (number of alleles, expected and observed heterozygosity and power of exclusion) are compared between breeds.