Descurainiae Semen Lepidii Semen, also known as Tinglizi, originates from Brassicaceae plants Descurainia sophia or Lepidium apetalum. The former is commonly referred to as "Southern Tinglizi(Descurainiae Semen)", while the latter is known as "Northern Tinglizi(Lepidii Semen)". To scientifically and accurately identify the origin of Tinglizi medicinal materials and traditional Chinese medicine products, this study developed a specific DNA mini-barcode based on chloroplast genome sequences. By combining the DNA mini-barcode with DNA metabarcoding technology, a method for the qualitative and quantitative identification of Tinglizi medicinal materials and Chinese patent medicines was established. In this study, chloroplast genomes of Southern Tinglizi and Northern Tinglizi and seven commonly encountered counterfeit products were downloaded from the GenBank database. Suitable polymorphic regions were identified to differentiate these species, enabling the development of the DNA mini-barcode. Using DNA metabarcoding technology, medicinal material mixtures of Southern and Northern Tinglizi, as well as the most common counterfeit product, Capsella bursa-pastoris seeds, were analyzed to validate the qualitative and quantitative capabilities of the mini-barcode and determine its minimum detection limit. Additionally, the mini-barcode was applied to Chinese patent medicines containing Tinglizi to authenticate their botanical origin. The results showed that the developed mini-barcode(psbB) exhibited high accuracy and specificity, effectively distinguishing between the two authentic origins of Tinglizi and commonly encountered counterfeit products. The analysis of mixtures demonstrated that the mini-barcode had excellent qualitative and quantitative capabilities, accurately identifying the composition of Chinese medicinal materials in mixed samples with varying proportions. Furthermore, the analysis of Chinese patent medicines revealed the presence of the adulterant species(Capsella bursa-pastoris) in addition to the authentic species(Southern and Northern Tinglizi), indicating the occurrence of adulteration in commercially available Tinglizi-containing products. This study developed a method for the qualitative and quantitative identification of multi-origin Chinese medicinal materials and related products, providing a model for research on other multi-origin Chinese medicinal materials.
DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Drug Contamination ; Genome, Chloroplast ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

This study investigates the genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships of different Artemisia argyi germplasm resources to provide a basis for germplasm identification, variety selection, and resource protection. A total of 192 germplasm resources of A. argyi were studied, and EST-based simple sequence repeat(EST-SSR) primers were designed based on transcriptomic data of A. argyi. Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) amplification was performed on these resources, followed by fluorescence capillary electrophoresis to detect genetic diversity and construct DNA fingerprints. From 197 pairs of primers designed, 28 pairs with polymorphic and clear bands were selected. A total of 278 alleles were detected, with an average of 9.900 0 alleles per primer pair and an average effective number of alleles of 1.407 2. The Shannon's diversity index(I) for the A. argyi germplasm resources ranged from 0.148 1 to 0.418 0, with an average of 0.255 7. The polymorphism information content(PIC) ranged from 0.454 5 to 0.878 0, with an average of 0.766 9, showing high polymorphism. Cluster analysis divided the A. argyi germplasm resources into three major groups: Group Ⅰ contained 136 germplasm samples, Group Ⅱ contained 45, and Group Ⅲ contained 11. Principal component analysis also divided the resources into three groups, which was generally consistent with the clustering results. Mantel test results showed that the genetic variation in A. argyi populations was to some extent influenced by geographic distance, but the effect was minimal. Structure analysis showed that 190 germplasm materials had Q≥ 0.6, indicating that these germplasm materials had a relatively homogeneous genetic origin. Furthermore, 8 core primer pairs were selected from the 28 designed primers, which could distinguish various germplasm types. Using these 8 core primers, DNA fingerprints for the 192 A. argyi germplasm resources were successfully constructed. EST-SSR molecular markers can be used to study the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of A. argyi, providing theoretical support for the identification and molecular-assisted breeding of A. argyi germplasm resources.
Artemisia/classification* ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Genetic Variation ; Expressed Sequence Tags ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Phylogeny ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; DNA, Plant/genetics* ; Genetic Markers

Skeleton and teeth are important biological samples. Due to their special structure and strong ability to resist degradation, they are ideal biological materials to retain DNA under natural condition. In many cases, such as historical figure identification, aged skeleton and teeth are usually the only biological samples. However, their DNA is in a state of trace, damage and degradation to different degrees, which requires special experimental treatment to achieve identification. This paper reviews the sample selection, DNA extraction, DNA enrichment and analysis approaches based on relevant research reports in recent years, aiming to promote the further development and improvement of the aged skeleton and teeth identification system.
Humans ; Aged ; Body Remains ; DNA/analysis* ; Tooth ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the technical performance of IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) and evaluate its forensic application value. METHODS: Following the Criterion of Forensic Science Human Fluorescence STR Multiplex Amplification Reagent (GB/T 37226-2018), IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) was verified in 11 aspects of species specificity, veracity, sensibility, adaptability, inhibitor tolerance, consistency, balance, reaction condition verification, mixed samples, stability and inter batch consistency. The system efficiency of IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) was compared with the PowerPlex^® Fusion 6C System, VersaPlex^® 27PY System and VeriFiler^TM Plus PCR Amplification Kit. The IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) was used to detect the swabs of biological samples in daily cases and the STR performances were observed. RESULTS: IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) had good species specificity, veracity, adaptability, inhibitor tolerance and balance. The sensibility was up to 0.062 5 ng. It was able to detect different types of samples, degraded samples and inhibitor mixed samples. Complete DNA typing could be obtained for samples with the mixture ratio less than 4∶1. The system efficiency of IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) was very high, with TDP up to 1-1.08×10^-37, CPE_trio and CPE_duo up to 1-5.47×10^-14 and 1-6.43×10^-9, respectively. For the touched biological samples in actual cases, the effective detection rate was 21.05%. The system efficiency of kinship, single parent and full sibling identifications was effectively improved. CONCLUSIONS The IDentifier DNA typing kit (YanHuang34) is adaptive to the GB/T 37226-2018 requirements. It can be used for individual identification and paternity identification, and is suitable for application in the field of forensic science.
Humans ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Paternity ; Species Specificity

With the advance of molecular biology, DNA analysis technology has been widely applied in forensic science. Non-human DNA analysis can be used in some special cases and has unique forensic value to provide investigation clues and trial basis. Animal DNA typing plays a more prominent role in the detection of all kinds of non-human DNA related cases and is the main content of forensic non-human DNA analysis. This paper reviews the development history, present situation, advantages and disadvantages of animal DNA typing according to its technology, characteristic, challenges facing forensic science application scenarios, and also its future development.
Animals ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Forensic Medicine ; DNA/analysis* ; Forensic Sciences ; Molecular Biology ; Forensic Genetics

Kinship testing is widely needed in forensic science practice. This paper reviews the definitions of common concepts, and summarizes the basic principles, advantages and disadvantages, and application scope of kinship analysis methods, including identity by state (IBS) method, likelihood ratio (LR) method, method of moment (MoM), and identity by descent (IBD) segment method. This paper also discusses the research hotspots of challenging kinship testing, complex kinship testing, forensic genetic genealogy analysis, and non-human biological samples.
DNA Fingerprinting ; Forensic Genetics/methods* ; Forensic Sciences ; Pedigree ; Humans

OBJECTIVES: To study the detection efficiency of trio full sibling with another known full sibling reference added under different number of autosomal STR typing systems. METHODS: Based on 43 detection systems consisting of 13 to 55 representative autosomal STR loci, 10 000 true families (full sibling group) and 10 000 false families (unrelated individual group) were randomly simulated. The full sibling index (FSI) was calculated based on the method of family reconstruction. The cumulative sibling relationship index (CFSI) of 0.000 1 and 10 000 were used as the evaluation thresholds, and the detection efficiency parameters were calculated and compared with the identification of the duo full sibling testing. RESULTS: With the increasing number of STR loci, the error rate and inability of judgement rate gradually decreased; the sensitivity, specificity, correct rate of judgment and other parameters gradually increased, and the system efficiency gradually improved. Under the same detection system, trio full sibling testing showed higher sensitivity, specificity, system efficiency and lower inability of judgement rate compared with duo full sibling testing. When the system efficiency was higher than 0.85 and inability of judgement rate was less than 0.01%, at least 20 STRs should be detected for trio full sibling testing, which was less than 29 STRs required by duo full sibling testing. CONCLUSIONS The detection efficiency of trio full sibling testing is superior to that of duo full sibling testing with the same detection system, which is an effective identification scheme for laboratories with inadequate detection systems or for materials with limited conditions.
Humans ; Siblings ; Microsatellite Repeats/genetics* ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Gene Frequency

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of different numbers of microhaplotype (MH) loci and the introduction of different reference samples on the identification of full sibling, half sibling and differentiation between full sibling and half sibling kinships, and to explore the effect of changing mutation rate on sibling testing. METHODS: First, a family map involving three generations was established, and four full sibling identification models, five half sibling identification models and five models distinguishing full and half siblings were constructed for different reference samples introduced. Based on the results of the previous study, two sets of nonbinary SNP-MH containing 34 and 54 loci were selected. Based on the above MH loci, 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. unrelated individuals, 100 000 pairs of half sibling vs. unrelated individuals and 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. half sibling were simulated based on the corresponding sibling kinship testing models, and the efficacy of each sibling kinship testing model was analyzed by the likelihood ratio algorithm under different thresholds. The mutant rate of 54 MH loci was changed to analyze the effect of mutation rate on sibling identification. RESULTS: In the same relationship testing model, the systematic efficacy of sibling testing was positively correlated with the number of MH loci detected. With the same number of MH loci, the efficacy of full sibling testing was better than that of uncle or grandfather when the reference sample introduced was a full sibling of A, but there was no significant difference in the identification efficacy of the four reference samples introduced for full sibling and half sibling differentiation testing. In addition, the mutation rate had a slight effect on the efficacy of sibling kinship testing. CONCLUSIONS Increasing the number of MH loci and introducing reference samples of known relatives can increase the efficacy of full sibling testing, half sibling testing, and differentiation between full and half sibling kinships. The level of mutation rate in sibling testing by likelihood ratio method has a slight but insignificant effect on the efficacy.
Humans ; Siblings ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods*

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of cell lysis method and magnetic beads method in forensic DNA identification and to explore these two methods in forensic DNA identification. METHODS: The genome DNA of THP-1 cells in different quantities was extracted by the cell lysis method and magnetic beads method, and the DNA content was quantified by real-time quantitative PCR. The cell lysis method and magnetic beads method were used to type the STR of human blood with different dilution ratios. RESULTS: When the numbers of THP-1 cell were 100, 400 and 800, the DNA content extracted by cell lysis method were (1.219±0.334), (5.081±0.335), (9.332±0.318) ng, respectively; and the DNA content extracted by magnetic beads method were (1.020±0.281), (3.634±0.482), (7.896±0.759) ng, respectively. When the numbers of THP-1 cells were 400 and 800, the DNA content extracted by the cell lysis method was higher than that by the magnetic beads method. The sensitivity of cell lysis method and magnetic beads method was similar in STR typing of human blood at different dilution ratios. Complete STR typing could be obtained at 100, 300 and 500-fold dilutions of blood samples, but could not be detected at 700-fold dilution. STR typing of undiluted human blood could not be detected by cell lysis method. CONCLUSIONS The cell lysis method is easy to operate and can retain template DNA to the maximum extend. It is expected to be suitable for trace blood evidence tests.
Humans ; Forensic Medicine ; DNA/genetics* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Magnetic Phenomena ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; Microsatellite Repeats

DNA Fingerprinting ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Homicide ; Humans ; Mitochondria