Identification of tuna species by a real-time polymerase chain reaction technique

Tuna are highly priced fishes that are often used in processed products. For effective fishery management and protection of consumers’ rights, it is important to develop a molecular method to identify the species of the tuna products. In this study we have developed a molecular method based on real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) technology for the rapid identification of four tuna species. Four species-specific TaqMan probes were designed to identify bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii), and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). A SYBR green system was also designed to enhance the authentication of T. obesus. Both systems can distinguish target species from others in an efficient and high-throughput manner and can be applied to species identification of tuna products.