DNA Analysis of Ingested Tomato Seeds in Forensic Applications

• Main Author: 李承龍
• Other Authors: Ian C. Hsu)
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/60948881793542083573

博士 === 國立清華大學 === 生醫工程與環境科學系 === 95 === ABSTRACT Indigestible material is one of the important evidences in autopsy. Stomach content analysis will also provide qualitative information concerning the decedent’s last meal and to link the suspect or a location through the identification of source of the food. Ingested items such as seeds could become key evidence for providing leads in criminal investigations, estimate the time of death or verify an alibi. Currently, the identification of seeds still relies on microscopical examination. We found that it is hard to distinguish between the seeds of ingested cultivars of tomato and between tomato and pepper. In this dissertation, tomato and pepper seeds were selected as a model system for the species identification and cultivars identification since they are commonly found in a variety of cuisines. Our results revealed that (i) high quality DNA from a half ingested tomato seed could be isolated; (ii) Find one optimal primers from 64 primers kits and using the primer’s DNA-AFLP pattern could be used to discriminate between tomato and pepper species; (iii) Only one primer’s DNA-AFLP pattern could be used to discriminate between different tomato cultivars; (iv) DNA could not be isolated from tomato seeds of 12 commercial products, home cooked and baked seeds My dissertation established a new method to distinguish two species and five cultivars. These results indicate that AFLP is a viable procedure for the identification of seed varieties from feces or stomach contents, thus adding an additional tool to identify nonhuman evidence for criminal investigations.