Development of molecular genetic methods for the identification and quantification of fish and seafood

At present it is not possible to reliably identify and quantify the constituents of seafood products, because the methods used on the analysis of components that are easily altered by the processing conditions. The stability and specificity of the DNA mol ecule, together with technical advancements in molecular biology, such as the development of real-time quantitative PCR and DNA microarrays, offer the opportunity to develop methods applicable in routine analysis for the simultaneous detection and quantif ication of components in seafoods. Practicable, fast and easy to use methods are in the interest of consumers, control laboratories and the industry to prevent fraud and mislabelling. The aim of this project is to identify species-specific sequences andde velop the assay conditions for the real-time PCR quantification of the species includes in the manufacture of seafoods and the evaluation of suitability of these methods by collaborative studies. The identification of species-specific sequences shall also lead to the development of DNA probe arrays, which are currently not available foridentification purposes of fish in seafoods.