DNA extraction from skins of wild (Hydrochoerus  hydrochaeris and Pecari tajacu) and domestic (Sus scrofa domestica) species using a novel  protocol.
Sometimes,  commercial products obtained from wild animals are sold as if they were from  domestic animals and vice versa. At this point of the productive chain, legal  control of possible wildlife products is difficult. Common in the commerce of  northern Argentina, skins of two wild species, the carpincho and the collared  peccary, look very similar to each other and to those of the domestic pig; it  is extremely difficult to differentiate them after they have been tanned.  Because there was no an adequate methodology to discriminate between leather of  these three species, we developed a new methodology of DNA extraction from skin  and leather. This new method involves digesting a leather sample using  proteinase K, followed by precipitation of proteins with 5 M NaCl, cleaning  with absolute isopropanol and DNA precipitation with 70% ethanol. DNA is  hydrated in Tris-EDTA buffer. This protocol provided good-quality DNA suitable  for analysis with molecular markers. This new protocol has potential for use in  identifying leather products of these species using molecular markers based on  RAPDs.