Development of a real-time PCR method for the simultaneous detection of mackerel and horse mackerel

We have developed a real-time PCR method for the simultaneous detection of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) and mackerel (Scomber scombrus) DNA. This method has been designed to be used as an extension to our previously published method for the simultaneous detection of several fish species. A fragment of the parvalbumin gene was used as target for the development of the reported method. The results showed the required specificity, efficiency of the real-time PCR reaction and comparable selectivity with the previously reported method, therefore their possible complementarity for food and feed analysis is discussed. Additionally, the developed method combined with melt curve analysis allows the differentiation between both fish species which can have interesting applications for authenticity studies.