Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, 20400, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 9;10(1):4352. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61415-2.
The wood adulteration is a common problem and under-studied aspect in the timber industry of Sri Lanka. Hence we conducted a survey to assess the status of timber adulteration and check the applicability of morphometric parameters and DNA barcoding to detect the adulterated timber sources. We interviewed the stakeholders of the timber industry to collect information regarding timber adulterations. We measured the morphometric parameters; wood density and sizes of the xylem elements of the standard and adulterant species. For DNA barcoding, DNA was extracted from the wood of the selected standard and adulterant species and subjected to PCR using the markers, matK-trnT and atpB-rbcL. The PCR products were subjected to DNA sequencing. According to the survey, 92.5% of patrons, 73.7% of manufacturers and 96.7% of carpenters said timber adulteration is taking place in the country. The respondents said that the standard timber species; Tectona grandis, Artocarpus heterophyllus, and Swietenia macrophylla, profoundly undergo adulteration in Sri Lanka. The morphometric parameters did not discriminate the adulterant species from the standard species. The DNA barcodes matK-trnT and atpB-rbcL provided unique polymorphic DNA sequences with specific lengths for each species permitting the precise establishment of species identity and enabling the accurate detection of timber adulterations.
木材掺假是斯里兰卡木材行业中一个常见且研究不足的问题。因此，我们进行了一项调查，以评估木材掺假的现状，并检查形态计量参数和 DNA 条码在检测掺假木材来源方面的适用性。我们采访了木材行业的利益相关者，以收集有关木材掺假的信息。我们测量了标准和掺杂物物种的形态计量参数；木材密度和木质部元素的大小。对于 DNA 条码，从选定的标准和掺杂物物种的木材中提取 DNA，并使用标记物 matK-trnT 和 atpB-rbcL 对其进行 PCR。将 PCR 产物进行 DNA 测序。根据调查，92.5%的顾客、73.7%的制造商和 96.7%的木匠表示该国存在木材掺假现象。受访者表示，标准木材树种；榄仁树、面包树和桃花心木，在斯里兰卡严重掺假。形态计量参数不能将掺杂物物种与标准物种区分开来。DNA 条码 matK-trnT 和 atpB-rbcL 提供了独特的多态性 DNA 序列，每种物种都具有特定的长度，允许精确确定物种身份，并能够准确检测木材掺假。
