Rapid bovine and caprine species identification in ruminant feeds by duplex real-time PCR melting curve analysis using EvaGreen fluorescence dye.

A duplex real-time PCR assay with melting curve analysis, using the EvaGreen fluorescence dye, was developed for rapid and reliable identification of bovine and caprine in ruminant feeds. The method merges the use of bovine (Bos taurus) and caprine (Capra hircus) specific primers that amplify small fragments (bovine 96 bp and caprine 142 bp) of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA genes, respectively. DNA was isolated from heat-treated meats (133 °C/3 bar for 20 min) mixtures of bovine and caprine and was used to optimize the assay. Gene products of caprine and bovine produced two distinct melting peaks simultaneously at 82 and 86.8 °C, respectively. Duplex analysis of the reference samples showed that the detection limit of the assay was 0.003 % for bovine and 0.005 % for caprine species. The aim of this study was to develop a duplex real-time PCR assay followed by a melt curve step for sensitive, rapid, specific, and cost-effective detection of bovine and caprine species based on the amplicon melting peak in ruminant feeds to prevent Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.