Feline non-repetitive mitochondrial DNA control region database for forensic evidence

Grahn, R.A.; Kurushima, J.D.; Billings, N.C.; Grahn, J.C.; Halverson, J.L.; Hammer, E.; Ho, C.K.; Kun, T.J.; Levy, J.K.; Lipinski, M.J.; Mwenda, J.M.; Ozpinar, H.; Schuster, R.K.; Shoorijeh, S.J.; Tarditi, C.R.; Waly, N.E.; Wictum, E.J.; Lyons, L.A.

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2010.01.013

« Previous Next »Forensic Science International: Genetics
Volume 5, Issue 1 , Pages 33-42, January 2011

Feline non-repetitive mitochondrial DNA control region database for forensic evidence

R.A. Grahn
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
J.D. Kurushima
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
N.C. Billings
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
J.C. Grahn
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
J.L. Halverson
- QuestGen Forensics, Davis, CA 95616, United States
E. Hammer
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
C.K. Ho
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
T.J. Kun
- Forensic Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
J.K. Levy
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, United States
M.J. Lipinski
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
J.M. Mwenda
- Enteric Viruses Research Group, Institute of Primate Research, Karen, Nairobi, Kenya
H. Ozpinar
- Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Institute of Nutritional Science, University of Potsdam, 14558, Germany
R.K. Schuster
- Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 597, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
S.J. Shoorijeh
- Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, 71345 Shiraz, Iran
C.R. Tarditi
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
- Forensic Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
N.E. Waly
- Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, 71526 Assiut, Egypt
E.J. Wictum
- Forensic Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
L.A. Lyons
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, Davis, CA 95616, United States
- Corresponding author at: Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California – Davis, 1114 Tupper Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States. Tel.: +1 530 754 5546; fax: +1 530 752 4278.

Received 26 September 2009; received in revised form 8 January 2010; accepted 20 January 2010. published online 26 February 2010.

Abstract

The domestic cat is the one of the most popular pets throughout the world. A by-product of owning, interacting with, or being in a household with a cat is the transfer of shed fur to clothing or personal objects. As trace evidence, transferred cat fur is a relatively untapped resource for forensic scientists. Both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics can be obtained from cat fur, but databases for neither aspect exist. Because cats incessantly groom, cat fur may have nucleated cells, not only in the hair bulb, but also as epithelial cells on the hair shaft deposited during the grooming process, thereby generally providing material for DNA profiling. To effectively exploit cat hair as a resource, representative databases must be established. The current study evaluates 402bp of the mtDNA control region (CR) from 1394 cats, including cats from 25 distinct worldwide populations and 26 breeds. Eighty-three percent of the cats are represented by 12 major mitotypes. An additional 8.0% are clearly derived from the major mitotypes. Unique sequences are found in 7.5% of the cats. The overall genetic diversity for this data set is 0.8813±0.0046 with a random match probability of 11.8%. This region of the cat mtDNA has discriminatory power suitable for forensic application worldwide.