Scientific Alert Note

Standardization and validation of tools for fish species identification

European Union regulations (EC No 104/2000) indicate the need to label seafood products correctly with their scientific name and to avoid possible fraud. Data traceability throughout the whole chain is desired. By developing plasmidic standards, the procedures and measurements for DNA based methodologies for identifying fish species will be standardized. This will give different laboratories the possibility to compare obtained results.

Author: Miguel Angel Pardo, AZTI Tecnalia, Spain

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One of the objectives of the SEAFOODplus project VALID is to provide tools capable of validating the most relevant and traceable information to the fish sector. This project is a part of the Traceability research area. For this purpose, AZTI-Tecnalia has launched a DNA database at the address www.azti.es/dna_database. This database contains more than 700 mitochondrial DNA sequences from some of the most commercial fish species in Europe, such as tunas, gadoids and hakes. Techniques for identifying fish species can be validated with the help of the database. It also provides a dynamic system that facilitates the management of DNA sequences in order to set alignments and find polymorphisms. Each DNA sequence is labeled with a tag at 5’ and 3’ ends, which facilitates their location in the genome. Besides, it is also a source of information and inspiration for developing new techniques allowing comparison of results obtained in different laboratories. The database is periodically updated with new DNA sequences.

Until now, templates which were previously extracted from well characterized samples were used in order to validate DNA methodologies. This technique causes some variability when extracting DNA. Plasmidic standards have been developed in the hope of solving this issue. These standards have the same characteristics and composition, which ensures the standardization of measurements and procedures, but they also allow the comparison of results obtained in different laboratories. The standards have been applied for patenting, and will probably be the first patent coming from SEAFOODplus. If you are interested or you wish to obtain further information, you can contact us at: mpardo(at)suk.azti.es

: A screenshot of the database homepage