Combined Castor Marker and Isotope Profile for Ricin Forensics
EMSL Project ID
33991
Abstract
There is a need for a number of independent analytical techniques to associate different ricin samples with each other, correlate to source materials, or demonstrate processing steps have occurred.. Ideally, some of these methods would be applicable even when toxin preparations had been contaminated with foreign substances or deliberately mixed in matrices such as food. Determination of the carbohydrate composition of a toxin preparation can yield information about both the toxin preparation method as well as the cultivar of the source bean. The stable isotope content of castor beans varies with growth region, and thus stable isotope content of carbohydrates and other beanspecific compounds such as the rare fatty acid ricinoleic acid will provide a source material-specific signature that may be recoverable from complex mixtures. Complementary independent signatures afford an integrated approach to toxin forensics that provides information relevant for all of these desired ends and provides higher confidence in conclusions. PNNL will combine chemical analysis of carbohydrate and fatty acid profiles with isotope ratio measurements to create "two-dimensional" composition and isotopic profiles. We propose to build on the current FY07 Carbohydrates of Ricin project by adding another dimension of information to the data, stable isotope ratios of individual ricin carbohydrates and fatty acids. Carbohydrate profiles provide information as to processing method, while the oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of castor beans, even genetically identical ones, vary with growth region and therefore would provide a signature for the source beans.
Project Details
Start Date
2009-04-08
End Date
2012-04-08
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members