Identification of Cashmere and Wool by DNA Barcode

In the textile market, it is common to use wool instead of precious cashmere, and it is difficult to identify those accurately by traditional methods such as appearance identification. To differentiate the cashmere and wool accurately and efficiently, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method based on the universal primers of DNA barcode was established according to the variations in the base sequence of mitochondrial COX I gene between goats and sheep. The mitochondrial DNA of cashmere and wool was extracted and then amplified by a pair of universal primers designed based on the COX I gene of goats and sheep. The amplified products were thus obtained with the length of 380 bp as predicted and subsequently sequenced. The sequencing results were verified with BOLD databases for homology comparison and the species of cashmere and wool were identified successfully. In conclusion, the PCR technology based on DNA barcode established in this study is quick and accurate in differentiating the species of cashmere and wool.