DNA-based control of oak wood geographic origin in the context of the cooperage industry

The recent growth of the French barrel industry, leading to increased importations of oak wood and a general lack of wood origin Guarantee, has resulted in the demand for a reliable technique permitting to control the provenance of oak wood. In this study we propose to adapt wood traceability technique using chloroplast DNA markers to this industrial context. The retrieval of DNA and haplotype determination has been tested on different types of wood samples that can be collected in cooperage firms, and a clear effect of wood treatment on DNA degradation has been observed. Despite the poor quantity and quality of DNA retrieved from staves. haplotypes could be determined on a large proportion of the samples, permitting to check the genetic conformity of woods with announced provenances. In several cases, our study proved the existence Of unlabeled oak woods originating from eastern Europe and the incorrect use of the names of famous French forests.