Species Identification of Red Snapper by a Discriminating PCR-Based Diagnostic

"Global demands for red snapper have resulted in an unprecedented rise in mislabeling and substitution of the legally designated red snapper species, Lutjanus campechanus, with lesser-valued, related snapper species. Due to the immense popularity and high value of red snapper, economic fraud related to species substitution causes consumers to lose faith in the seafood products they purchase, which in turn has a tremendous negative impact on the U.S. seafood industry. Furthermore, mislabeling/substitution of red snapper has negatively impacted the effective management of this important fishery resource. Immediate action is needed for the development of a DNA-based diagnostic that will effectively and accurately identify red snapper. Several DNA-based test formats have emerged to counter this situation in the red snapper industry however these tests are laborious, costly and not well-suited for the testing market of food commodities. Therefore, we propose to develop a streamlined, reliable and scalable DNA-based diagnostic test that simply yet definitively identifies red snapper from related, commonly substituted snapper species. Our diagnostic design strategy leverages the power of PCR and the discovery of gene-specific primers to provide a highly reliable yet very simple test readout. The diagnostic developed will be commercially available for use in Federal, State, public and private laboratories. This work also has potential to serve as the platform technology for developing DNA-based methods for other food markets."