Review of molecular genetic investigation methods for Cannabis sativa (L.)

When the plant Cannabis sativa L. was included in molecular genetic research in the middle of the 1990s, the initial analytical methods were focused on identification and sex determination of the plants. This was carried out with nuclear and plastid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The first analyses on individualization of single plants were carried out with randomly amplified polymorphisms (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) methods; however, the most complex methods are now based on short tandem repeats (STR), which also have a fundamental role in human DNA fingerprinting and offer the greatest potential for discrimination. This article provides the names of the most prominent Cannabis DNA research groups in Germany to facilitate finding cooperation and contact partners. The current Cannabis DNA research is focused on establishing standards, e.g. an allelic ladder for Cannabis STRs, which will provide a reliable molecular genetic comparison of investigation results between the various laboratories.