School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Dec 16;10(1):22095. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79061-z.
Chamaecyparis taiwanensis is an endemic plant suffering illegal logging in Taiwan for its high economic value. Lack of direct evidence to correlate stump and timber remains a hurdle for law enforcement. In this report, 23 polymorphic Genomic Simple Sequence Repeat (gSSR) and 12 Expressed Sequence Tag (EST)-SSR markers were developed and their transferability was assessed. The individual identification system built from selected non-linkage 30 SSR markers has a combined probability of identity as 5.596 × 10 equivalents to identifying an individual in a population of up to 18 million C. taiwanensis with 99.99% confidence level. We also applied the system in an actual criminal case by selecting 19 of these markers to correlate illegally felled timbers and victim trees. Our data demonstrate that molecular signals from three timbers hit with three victim trees with confidence level more than 99.99%. This is the first example of successfully applying SSR in C. taiwanensis as a court evidence for law enforcement. The identification system adapted advanced molecular technology and exhibits its great potential for natural resource management on C. taiwanensis.
台湾扁柏是台湾特有的树种，因其经济价值高而遭受非法采伐。由于缺乏将树桩和木材直接联系起来的证据，这给执法带来了障碍。在本报告中，开发了 23 个多态性基因组简单重复序列（gSSR）和 12 个表达序列标签（EST）-SSR 标记，并评估了它们的可转移性。从选定的非连锁 30 个 SSR 标记构建的个体识别系统具有 5.596×10 的个体身份概率，相当于在置信水平为 99.99%的情况下，从多达 1800 万株台湾扁柏中识别出一个个体。我们还通过选择其中的 19 个标记来将非法砍伐的木材与受害树木进行关联，在一个实际的刑事案件中应用了该系统。我们的数据表明，来自三根木材的分子信号与三根受害树木的关联置信水平超过 99.99%。这是首次成功将 SSR 应用于台湾扁柏作为法庭证据的案例。该鉴定系统采用了先进的分子技术，为台湾扁柏的自然资源管理展示了巨大的潜力。
