18S ribosomal DNA-based PCR test for avian and mammalian DNA identification in meat products

This work has aimed to create a PCR test to identify avian and mammalian DNA in meat products. The test is based on phylogenetic analysis of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of four major groups of Tetrapod: Amphibia, Reptilia, Mammalia, and Aves. 18S rDNA complete coding sequences from GenBank have been used for phylogenetic analysis by the Maximum Likelihood method. The alignment of these 18S rDNA sequences has been used for PCR primers modeling. We have received the following PCR fragment for these primers: for birds - 97 base pairs (bp), and for mammals - 134 bp. The difference between them in 37 bp is sufficient for separating these fragments in standard agarose gel. We have tested this PCR to identify avian or mammalian DNA in sausage products and confirmed the suitability of this test for avian (chicken) and mammalian (sheep, cows) meat identification and meat identification in sausage products.