Species Identification of Cannabis sativa Using Real‐Time Quantitative PCR (qPCR)1, 2. Issue 2 (13th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnson, Christopher E.; Premasuthan, Amritha; Satkoski Trask, Jessica; Kanthaswamy, Sree
• Is Part Of: Journal of forensic sciences. Volume 58:Issue 2(2013)
• Page Start: 486
• Page End: 490
• Publication Date: 2013-02-13
• Subjects: Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Forensic sciences -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; 363.2505
• DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.12055
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1198

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en" id="jfo12055-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Most narcotics‐related cases in the United States involve <italic>Cannabis sativa</italic>. Material is typically identified based on the cystolithic hairs on the leaves and with chemical tests to identify of the presence of cannabinoids. Suspect seeds are germinated into a viable plant so that morphological and chemical tests can be conducted. Seed germination, however, causes undue analytical delays. DNA analyses that involve the chloroplast and nuclear genomes have been developed for identification of <italic>C. sativa</italic> materials, but they require several nanograms of template DNA. Using the trnL 3′ exon‐trnF intragenic spacer regions within the <italic>C. sativa</italic> chloroplast, we have developed a real‐time quantitative PCR assay that is capable of identifying picogram amounts of chloroplast DNA for species determination of suspected <italic>C. sativa</italic> material. This assay provides forensic science laboratories with a quick and reliable method to identify an unknown sample as <italic>C. sativa</italic>.</p> </abstract>