Exploiting raptor genome sequences to combat wildlife crime

Birds of prey have suffered persecution for centuries through trapping, shooting, poisoning and theft from the wild to meet the demand from egg collectors and falconers; they were also amongst the earliest beneficiaries of DNA testing in wildlife forensics. We have published the first use of massively-parallel sequencing (MPS) applied to a large body of evidential material from one of the earliest investigations. This demonstrated that our newly developed multiplex of microsatellite markers offers a huge advance over classical minisatellite DNA fingerprinting methods pioneered by Alec Jeffreys at Leicester and applied to raptors by the supervisory team in the 1990s.  

Whilst our paper described a panel of markers that could be used to profile any species of falcon, our prototype panel for Accipiters (hawks, eagles, kites etc.), the group comprising the largest radiation of diurnal birds of prey, showed more patchy success due to the greater evolutionary time depth of this family.   

In this project we propose to exploit the wealth of newly published Accipiter genomes to identify STR markers with broader taxonomic utility and build multiplexes applicable to both forensic and demographic studies of these apex predators that are key indicators of the health of ecosystems. Their sensitivity to ecological change and human persecution has caused many species to suffer population bottlenecks that have reduced genetic diversity, necessitating the identification of the most polymorphic class of markers.  

Newly identified STRs panels will be tested on our collection of pedigrees and unrelated samples to demonstrate robust genotyping before exploiting the full capabilities of MPS to type forensic traces of both degraded and mixed samples, including feathers and egg membranes that can be used to link stolen and killed birds to nest sites.