POSSIBILITY OF USING SINGLE-STRAND CONFORMATION POLYMORPHISM (SSCP) ANALYSIS FOR DISCRIMINATING EUROPEAN PIG AND WILD BOAR MEAT SAMPLES

For discriminating domestic pig from European wild boar meat and meat products, a particular portion of mitochondrial DNA (D-loop region), c onsidered as the site of significant mutations in the nucleotidic sequ ence, was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and used in Sin gle Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. The comparison d id not allow the direct discrimination of pig and wild boar samples. N evertheless, the sequencing analyses carried out on the DNA fragments of wild boar samples that showed different SSCP patterns, indicated th at there are preferential sites of mutation, not yet reported in Europ ean wild boar. All samples carrying the substitution T/C in position 2 74 gave a single SSCP pattern, different from the others, suggesting a probable specific mutation. However, we consider that the calculation of the frequency of each substitution in the two animals could be use ful for developing a method for discriminating pig from wild boar meat and meat products.