ABSTRACT
Human teeth are biological structures that resist extreme conditions thus becoming a useful source of DNA for human forensic identification purposes. When it is possible, forensic prefer only non-damaged teeth whereas those with cavities are usually rejected to avoid both external and internal bacterial contamination. Cavities are one of the most prevalent dental pathology and its incidence increases with ageing. The aim of this study was to validate the use of teeth with cavities for forensic identification. A total of 120 individual teeth from unrelated patients (60 healthy and 60 with cavities, respectively) extracted by a dentist as part of the normal process of treatment, were submitted for further analysis. Dental pulp was obtained after tooth fragmentation, complete DNA was extracted and the corresponding human identification profile was obtained by the AmpFlSTR® NGM SElect™ kit. Cariogenic microbiota was determined by PCR-DGGE with bacterial universal primers and bands were excised, re-amplified and sequenced. From the 120 dental pieces analyzed, a defined genetic profile was obtained in 81 (67.5%) of them, with no statistical differences between the healthy and the cavities-affected teeth. Statistical association between teeth status, DNA content and genetic profiles was not observed. Complex bacterial communities were only detected in the cavities group, being the Streptococcus/Enterococcus, and Lactobacillus genera the most represented. We conclude that teeth with cavities are as valid as healthy dental pieces for forensic human identification. Moreover, the severity of the cariogenic lesion as well as associated bacterial communities seems not to influence the establishment of human dental profiles.
Subject(s)
DNA Fingerprinting , DNA/isolation & purification , Dental Caries , Dental Pulp/chemistry , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , DNA, Bacterial/isolation & purification , Dental Caries/microbiology , Enterococcus/genetics , Enterococcus/isolation & purification , Female , Forensic Dentistry , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Lactobacillus/genetics , Lactobacillus/isolation & purification , Male , Middle Aged , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S , Streptococcus/genetics , Streptococcus/isolation & purification , Young AdultABSTRACT
In order to understand the genetic ancestry and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity of current Colombian horse breeds we sequenced a 364-bp fragment of the mitocondrial DNA D-loop in 116 animals belonging to five Spanish horse breeds and the Colombian Paso Fino and Colombian Creole cattle horse breeds. Among Colombian horse breeds, haplogroup D had the highest frequency (53%), followed by haplogroups A (19%), C (8%) and F (6%). The higher frequency of haplogroup D in Colombian horse breeds supports the theory of an ancestral Iberian origin for these breeds. These results also indicate that different selective pressures among the Colombian breeds could explain the relatively higher genetic diversity found in the Colombian Creole cattle horse when compared with the Colombian Paso Fino.