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DNA barcoding was adopted in our laboratory for the identification of tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) in moassel samples seized from “hookah bars”. As recommended by the CBOL Plant Working Group, we used a 2-locus combination of rbcL and matK as the plant barcode. As previously reported rbcL routinely produced high quality bi-directional reads but had a lower discriminating power than matK. It was much more difficult obtaining high quality bi-directional reads with matK possibly because of poor sample quality. DNA barcoding successfully identified tobacco in over 60 commercial tobacco moassel products. On the other hand, negative results (no amplification) or the identification of non-tobacco species were obtained from herbal moassel products. Our study clearly demonstrates the practical utility of DNA barcoding beyond taxonomy.
Chemists who work for the Alcohol and Tobacco section at the Science and Engineering Directorate of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) laboratory analyze samples seized by various government agencies to determine if they contain tobacco. Certificates of analysis are then issued in support of charges under the Excise Act, 2001 and other legislations. Determining whether a seized sample contains tobacco is an integral part of the work carried out by the chemists of the Alcohol and Tobacco section.
In recent years, moassel seizures in Canada have been on the rise [
] due to its increasing popularity. Moassel is described as a mixture of tobacco and flavored molasses that is smoked in a waterpipe which is also referred to as narghile, shisha or hookah [
]. Commonly, moassel is smoked in “hookah bars” across many Canadian cities. Unfortunately, the majority of these establishments purchase and sell moassel that has not been properly stamped according to the Excise Act, 2001 [
]. Consequently, the appropriate federal and provincial duties are not paid. Moreover, these hookah bars often undermine anti-smoking laws. For example, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits smoking in public areas such as bars and restaurants [
To ensure that bars are respecting the Smoke-Free Ontario Act and/or the Excise Act, 2001 tobacco enforcement officers will seize products that are suspected to contain tobacco and submit them for analysis. These samples can range from 1 to 5 g of moassel which limits the amount of chemical analysis that can be carried out. As a result, DNA-based approaches were considered since very little plant material is required.
Determining the most appropriate analytical DNA-based method was critical. The CBSA laboratory required an approach that was easy to implement, cost-effective and reproducible. In addition, the method had to be broadly applicable because our laboratory often deals with unknown plant material. DNA barcoding [
]. In this study we demonstrate the potential use of DNA barcoding for the identification of tobacco found in moassel. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few rare cases were DNA barcoding has been used in a forensic-type setting.
] are flue-cured tobacco varieties registered in Canada. These samples were obtained from the Canadian Tobacco Research Foundation to be used as reference material/positive controls throughout this study.
Tobacco (n = 64) and herbal (n = 8) moassel samples were acquired from various government agencies. The samples for this study were selected because they are believed to be a good representation of the brands/flavors commonly distributed in Canada. Samples of various flavors were selected to determine if flavoring compounds have a negative impact on the analysis.
2.2 Sample preparation and DNA extraction
Approximately 100 mg of moassel was frozen in liquid nitrogen for a minimum of 30 s. Immediately afterwards, the plant material was pulverized for 30 s at 30 Hz using a Retch universal mixer-mill disrupter model number MM301 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ottawa, Canada). DNA extractions from pulverized moassel were carried out automatically in a QIAcube (Qiagen, Mississauga, Canada) using the DNeasy plant mini kit (Qiagen). The DNA concentrations and the quality (A260/A280) of the extracts were estimated with a NanoDrop 2000 spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). All DNA extracts were stored at −20 °C until analysis.
2.3 PCR
Primers for the rbcL and matK loci (Table 1) were supplied by Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA). A 25 μL reaction contained 12.5 μL of AmpliTaq Gold 360 master mix (Applied Biosystems), 3.75 μL (2.0 μM) of each primer and 5.0 μL of DNA extract. The amplifications were carried out in a Veriti thermal cycler (Applied Biosystems) using conditions detailed in Table 1. Amplification checks were carried out in an Experion automated electrophoresis station (Bio Rad, Mississauga, Canada) using the Experion DNA 1 K analysis kit (Bio Rad). Amplicons were then purified automatically in a QIAcube (Qiagen) using the QIAquick PCR purification kit (Qiagen). To determine how much DNA template was required to produce optimal results for rbcL and matK we prepared six serial diluted concentrations (1.5, 0.5, 0.05, 0.005, 5E−4 and 5E−4 ng/μL) of CT144 DNA. These serial dilutions were prepared in triplicate.
Table 1Description of primers and thermal cycling conditions.
The minimal amount of DNA required to produce optimal results was determined to be 0.005ng/μL for matK and rbcL. For matK, a sequence was considered optimal if the overall quality value (QV) [13] was above 20 and ≥750nt in length. For rbcL, a sequence was considered optimal if the overall QV was above 20 and ≥490nt in length.
a The minimal amount of DNA required to produce optimal results was determined to be 0.005 ng/μL for matK and rbcL. For matK, a sequence was considered optimal if the overall quality value (QV)
Bi-directional cycle sequencing was carried out with the primers listed in Table 1 with the BigDye v3.1 cycle sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems). All cycle sequencing reactions were carried out in a Veriti thermal cycler (Applied Biosystems). Cycle sequencing reactions were purified with the help of the BigDye XTerminator kit (Applied Biosystems) prior to sequence analysis. Bi-directional sequences were determined using a 3500 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems).
2.5 Sequence analysis and identification
Contig sequences were assembled with the help of the DNASTAR software suite version 2.0.0.78 (DNASTAR, Madison, WI). Samples were identified by using BLASTn [
No attempts were made to separate plant material from the molasses during DNA sample preparation. The goal was to keep the protocol as stream-lined as possible while minimizing the risk of cross-contamination. On average, 0.7 μg (±0.4 μg) of DNA was extracted from approximately 100 mg (±5 mg) of moassel. In order to approximate the quality of the extracts, we relied on the A260/A280 values. These values varied greatly, ranging from 0.99 to 2.07. It is suspected, that the large variability in these values was caused by flavoring compounds, found in the molasses, which elute along with DNA. Regardless of low-quality extracts, the PCR amplifications remained unaffected (Fig. 1). This demonstrates that readily amplifiable DNA can be extracted from moassel in its usual form using the DNeasy plant mini kit.
Fig. 1Typical virtual gel of amplicons generated by the rbcL and matK primers. Lane L, DNA 1 K ladder; lane 1, amplification of rbcL from reference tobacco; lanes 2–4, amplification of rbcL from tobacco moassel (∼620 bp) of various flavors; lane 5, successful amplification of rbcL from herbal moassel (∼500 bp); Lane 6, unsuccessful amplification of rbcL from herbal moassel; lane 7, amplification of matK from reference tobacco; lanes 8–10, amplification of matK from tobacco moassel (∼800 bp) of various flavors; and lane 11, unsuccessful amplification of matK from herbal moassel. The Experion DNA 1 K analysis kit relies on two internal markers to normalize the migration times among samples. These markers are visible at 1500 bp (upper marker) and 50 bp (lower marker).
The rbcL fragment was successfully amplified (approximately 620 bp) from tobacco moassel regardless of flavor (Table 2, Fig. 1). Likewise, the matK fragment (approximately 800 bp) amplified with all tobacco moassel also (Table 2, Fig. 1). On the other hand, the amplification of the rbcL and matK loci was far less successful with herbal moassel. Out of eight herbal moassel samples, amplification was only successful with three samples (Table 2, Fig. 1). Furthermore, only the rbcL fragment could be amplified. The low success rate of amplification for these samples was likely caused by manufacturing practices rather than flavoring compounds. Anecdotal reports from the field suggest that bagasse, a by-product of the cane sugar industry [
] to a point were it is unusable for DNA barcoding. Unfortunately, it is not possible to confirm if bagasse is being used as base material for herbal moassel because manufacturers are hesitant to divulge the contents of their products.
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. debneyi, N. tabacum, N. petunioides and N. noctiflora. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. debneyi, N. tabacum, N. petunioides and N. noctiflora. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. debneyi, N. tabacum, N. petunioides and N. noctiflora. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
a Top BLASTn results in GenBank with the rbcL sequence: N. glauca, N. petunioides, N. noctiflora, N. sylvestris, N. tabacum, N. debneyi and N. acuminata. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
b No amplification.
c Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. tabacum, N. sylvestris, and N. digluta. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
d Top BLASTn results in GenBank with matK sequence: N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis, N. umbratica and N. benthamiana. In each case results were identical (scores, E-values, identities, etc.).
e Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. debneyi, N. tabacum, N. petunioides and N. noctiflora. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
f Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the rbcL sequence: N. noctiflora, N. tabacum, N. petunioides, N. debneyi and N. glauca. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
g Top Plant Identification results in BOLD Systems with the matK sequence: N. benthamiana, N. goodspeedii, N. occidentalis and N. umbratica. In each case results were identical (score, similarity and E-value).
]. Contig sequences of 490 nt or higher were regularly attained from tobacco moassel (Table 2). High quality contigs were also achieved with herbal moassel when amplification was successful. In the majority of cases, manual editing of the contig sequences was not required at all. Obtaining high quality bi-directional reads from matK was problematic, which was somewhat expected [
]. Contig sequences of the expected size (around 800 nt) were difficult to achieve consistently with tobacco moassel (Table 2).
BLASTn searches of the rbcL and matK contigs in GenBank produced similar results (Table 2). In both cases, the best results were a variety of Nicotiana species. However, resolution significantly improved when the matK contigs were 800 nt and above. If amplification was successful with herbal moassel, the plant material was identified as Triticum aestivum (common wheat). Likewise, the top matches (for tobacco based samples) in BOLD with rbcL sequences were a mixture of Nicotiana species (Table 2). On the other hand, matK contigs provided species level identifications (Nicotiana tabacum, i.e. cultivated tobacco) if the sequences were above 800 nt in length. If the matK sequences were below 800 nt, the proper genus was still identified. Although identification at the species level was not always possible, we are confident that the correct genus was assigned [
] are considered “tobacco”, DNA barcoding would be well-suited for the identification of tobacco moassel. According to our results, DNA barcoding would provide enough discrimination to determine if a sample could be considered a tobacco product and require proper stamping and payment of excise duty under the Excise Act, 2001.
During our study we only assayed the core plant barcode recommended by the CBOL Working group [
]. However if identification at the species level would have been critical alternative barcoding regions would have been considered. Recently the China Plant BOL Group recommended that the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) be incorporated into the core plant barcode because it shows a high level of discriminatory power [
]. Quite often, in a forensic setting, samples have severely degraded DNA therefore the amplification of a full length barcode may not always be possible. The trnH-psbA spacer might also have been a barcoding region of interest. This spacer showed a high sequence divergence and amplification success when comparing N. tabacum, Atropa belladonna, and significantly divergent angiosperms [
]. As a result, it could be amendable to degraded DNA.
Recently, DNA barcoding was applied to a case where unknown plant material, declared as “almond leaves”, was being imported into Canada from Haiti. Border Service Officers seized the unknown plant material suspecting that it might be tobacco. DNA barcoding revealed that the plant material was from the Terminalia genus. This genus of large trees includes species like T. catappa, which is used in traditional Haitian medicine [
]. Chemical analysis also suggested that the plant material in question was not tobacco further supporting barcoding results. This clearly demonstrates the practical utility of DNA barcoding for these kinds of samples.
4. Conclusions
This study shows that DNA barcoding has some practical applications beyond taxonomy, including the identification of tobacco in moassel. Even though species identification was not always possible, identification at the genus level is adequate for the needs of the CBSA laboratory. DNA barcoding proved to be especially useful when sample size was limited. In the future, other primer sets will be assayed to improve the identification of plant material in herbal moassel.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the following people for supplying moassel samples. Carson Kong (Ministry of Finance, Surrey, British Columbia), Richard Peck (Ministry of Finance, Surrey, British Columbia), Debra Massie (Public Health Services, Hamilton, Ontario), Jennifer Wong (Ministry of Revenue, Oshawa, Ontario), Julie Lemieux (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Montreal, Quebec) and Terry Olfert (Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario). We would also like to thank Dan Van Hooren (Canadian Tobacco Research Foundation, Tillsonburg, Ontario) for providing the reference tobacco samples. This study would have not been possible without their assistance. In addition we would like to thank Paul Loo for his support and Eric Chiasson for reviewing the manuscript.
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