Development of molecular tools to differentiate Indian wild pig (Sus scrofa cristatus) meat from exotic and local domestic pig meat

Aim: Identification of wild pig and domestic pig is essential to prevent illegal poaching of wild pig and to implement Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. PCR-RFLP was used to differentiate Wild pig (Sus scrofa cristatus) from Domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica) meat. Materials and Methods: DNA was isolated from meat samples of both the sub species and a fragment of Cytochrome b gene was amplified using universal primers and the PCR products were subjected to restriction digestion. Results: All the known samples of each of the sub-species amplified 474 bp fragment successfully using b1 and b2 primers. To differentiate between wild and domestic pig meat, restriction digestion of the PCR products was carried out to produce characteristic PCR-RFLP patterns for each species. StuI digestion yielded a RFLP pattern which distinguished the closely related sub species. The alignment of sequences of Wild pigs with sequences of local domestic pig, European wild pig and exotic breeds revealed 7 intra-species polymorphic sites within Cytochrome b gene fragment. Conclusion: This study showed that The PCR-RFLP is a simple and very effective tool for differentiating the samples of both the sub species and could prove to be a useful tool in forensic identification of wild pig and domestic pig.