Reviewing population studies for forensic purposes: Dog mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

The identification of dog hair through mtDNA analysis has become increasingly important in the last 15 years, as it can provide associative evidence connecting victims and suspects. The evidential value of an mtDNA match between dog hair and its potential donor is determined by the random match probability of the haplotype. This probability is based on the haplotype’s population frequency estimate. Consequently, implementing a population study representative of the population relevant to the forensic case is vital to the correct evaluation of the evidence. This paper reviews numerous published dog mtDNA studies and shows that many of these studies vary widely in sampling strategies and data quality. Therefore, several features influencing the representativeness of a population sample are discussed. Moreover, recommendations are provided on how to set up a dog mtDNA population study and how to decide whether or not to include published data. This review emphasizes the need for improved dog mtDNA population data for forensic purposes, including targeting the entire mitochondrial genome. In particular, the creation of a publicly available database of qualitative dog mtDNA population studies would improve the genetic analysis of dog traces in forensic casework.

Brown banded bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum) shows high genetic diversity and differentiation in Malaysian waters

“…These animals were caught via commercial fishing operations; the fishing vessels were mainly trawlers except in SR whereby some individuals were caught with gill nets. A maximum of two individuals per fishing vessel were sampled, to prevent over-sampling of maternally-linked individuals that may result in the reduction of potential haplotype diversity 56 , 87 , 88 . Samples from EP were obtained through a fisheries-independent demersal trawl survey within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) organised by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia from July 2015 to July 2016.…”

Reconciling the conflicts between mitochondrial DNA haplogroup trees of Canis lupus

“…Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been widely used, not only in evolutionary genetics [1], but also in molecular forensics [2] of domestic dogs. During last decades, the availability of dog mtDNA data has extended from D-loop [3], to coding-region sequence [4], and finally to the complete mitochondrial genome [5].…”

Comparing two commercial domestic dog (Canis familiaris) STR genotyping kits for forensic identity calculations in a mixed‐breed dog population sample

“…Population sampling efforts for building dog STR databases tend to be restricted to opportunistic sampling from local sources such as veterinary clinics and dog owners (Verscheure et al . ). Not only have local dog samples been shown to be representative of a much broader geographic sampling (Himmelberger et al .…”