Differentiation of Sheep and Goat Species by PCR-RFLP of Mitochondrial 16S rRNA Gene

The present study was carried out with an aim to develop a method for differentiation of sheep and goat meat using PCR-RFLP. Tissue samples were collected randomly from ten animals of each species and used for mitochondrial DNA extraction. PCR amplification of 600 bp fragment of 16S rRNA gene was done using universal primer. RFLP studies were carried out by digesting the amplicons using restriction enzymes viz. AluI and HhaI. Amplicons of Goat 16S rRNA gene was fragmented to 460bp and 140bp fragments by HhaI while the amplified gene of sheep was digested by AluI into two fragments of 360bp and 240bp each. This resulting RFLP pattern of 16S rRNA could easily identify and differentiate meat of sheep and goat species.