Two universal primer sets for species identification among vertebrates

The aim of this study was to develop a simple method using universal primers for species identification based on direct PCR sequencing. Two primer sets were designed based on the conserved regions of the 12S and 16S rRNA loci detected by the comprehensive sequence comparison among 30 mammalian whole mitochondrial genomes. In humans, the expected sizes of PCR products of the 12S and 16S rRNAs were 215 and 244 bp, respectively. Both primer sets successfully amplified the expected PCR products from various kinds of vertebrates including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and the sequenced segments contained sufficient nucleotide differences to identify each animal species. A case example of the identification of a piece of buried bone of unknown species is presented, and the species was identified as a pig by this method.