229 Animal Science Papers and Reports vol. 23 (2005) no. 4, 229-236 Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Jastrzębiec, Poland Cytochrome b gene (cytb) in analysis of anonymous bio- logical traces and its application in veterinary diagnostics and animal conservation Beata Prusak 1 , Tomasz Grzybowski 2 , Jarosław Bednarek 2 1 Department of Animal Immunogenetics, Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Jastrzębiec, 05-522 Wólka Kosowska, Poland 2 Department of Molecular and Forensic Genetics, The Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland (Received September 15, 2005; accepted November 5, 2005) Institutions and agencies which are to enforce veterinary and animal protection and conservation regulations require means enabling identiication of species origin of meat, trophies and other biologi- cal material. In this study a partial DNA sequence of cytochrome b gene (cytb) was used to identify three different anonymous samples: (1) the hair from the bird’s nest, (2) the blood stain found in the forest on snow cover and probably left by poachers, and (3) the fragment of the muscle from exotic reptile, provided by the Warsaw Zoological Garden. The sequences derived were compared with the sequences registered in GenBank, and species origin of samples was determined. The partial sequence of cytb adopted in the study proved to be useful for identiication of animal species. Out of three samples subject to identiication, one was found to belong to the goat, one to elk and another one to Python molurus, the latter two included in the list of protected species issued by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). KEY WORDS: animal conservation / cytochrome b / species identiication Veterinary and forensic science laboratories frequently encounter samples lacking any morphological detail allowing their identiication. Moreover, a highly degraded nature of samples collected in wild area or stored under non-sterile conditions often make impossible their identiication based on conventional methods or even on ampli-