Paternity testing of endangered species of birds by DNA fingerprinting and random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting

Abstract

Since 1985 DNA fingerprinting is the method of choice to solve forensic problems such as paternity testing (Jeffreys et al., 1986) or identification of immigration cases (Jeffreys et al., 1985 a, b). Its applicability became evident not only in man but also in many biological problems. Jeffreys’probes 33.15 and 33.6 or Epplen’s oligonucleotide probes were used in DNA fingerprinting of dogs and cats (Jeffreys & Morton, 1987), non-human primates (Weiss, 1989), birds (Longmire et al., 1991, Miyaki et al., 1993), fishes (Schartl et al., 1993) or even plants (Weising et al., 1991). Especially its application in paternity testing turned to account in many species of animals (Lubjuhn et al., 1991, Mariat & Robert, 1993, Wickings & Dixson, 1992). The new method of random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting (RAPD fingerprinting) allows determination of paternity with very small amounts of DNA such as in the case of insects (Hadrys et al., 1993).