A Novel Application of a Cryosectioning Technique to Aid Scat Hair Microanalysis

• Mandoreba, Talia Y. ^[1] ; Cloete, Karen J. ^[2] ; Minnis-Ndimba, Roya ^[2] ; Kupika, Olga L. ^[1]
  1. [1] Chinhoyi University of Technology

     Chinhoyi University of Technology

     Zimbabue

     
  2. [2] Materials Research Department, iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, National Research Foundation. South Africa
• Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 64, Nº. 4, 2019, págs. 1181-1186
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Scat hair presents a diverse profile of hairs for morphological assessment that may find versatile applications in wildlife forensic investigations. Successful morphological assessment of scat hair microstructure, however, depends on a robust sectioning methodology. We assessed the feasibility and efficacy of a cryosectioning technique compared to that of a gold standard hand-sectioning technique. Scat hairs were embedded in paraffin wax and hand-sectioned, while cryopreserved scat hairs were sectioned with a cryostat. The results showed that cryosectioning preserved the pristine morphology of the scat hair and provided cross sections more amenable to high-resolution imaging of hair internal microstructure than hand-sectioning. The cryosectioning technique may find novel applications as a more reliable and robust technique to aid (i) scat hair internal microstructure analysis for cross-referencing with species identification keys in wildlife forensic studies and (ii) downstream toxicological analysis in wildlife forensic studies as hair biochemistry is not altered during cryopreservation.