DNA barcoding as new diagnostic tool to lethal plant poisoning in herbivorous mammals

Abstract

Reliable identification of plant species in the digestive tract of a deceased animal often represents the major key to diagnose a lethal intoxication with poisonous plants in veterinary pathology. In many cases, identification of the species is challenging or even impossible because the diagnostic morphological features have been degraded, and because the interpretation of such features requires a considerable expertise in plant anatomy and biodiversity. The use of DNA barcoding markers can support or even replace classical morphological assessment. While these markers have been widely used for plant taxonomy, their forensic application to clarify causes of animal poisoning is novel. In addition, we use specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms as fingerprints. This allows for a clear decision even in cases, where the conventionally used statistical e-values remain ambiguous. In the current work, we explore the feasibility of this strategy in a couple of exemplary cases, either in concert with anatomical diagnostics, or in cases where visual species identification is not possible, or where chemical toxin detection methods are not well established, complex, time consuming and expensive.