TY - JOUR
T1 - DNA from keratinous tissue. Part II
T2 - feather
AU - Olsen, Maia E.
AU - Bengtsson, Camilla Friis
AU - Bertelsen, Mads Frost
AU - Willerslev, Eske
AU - Gilbert, Tom
N1 - Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/1/20
Y1 - 2012/1/20
N2 - Although good quality DNA can be recovered from the base of the calamus of freshly sampled feathers, as from other fully keratinized tissues such as nail or hair shaft, the quality and quantity of DNA in the majority of feather structures is much poorer. Little research has been performed to characterize the quality of this DNA is, and thus what a researcher might be able to achieve when using feathers as a source of DNA. In this review, we expand on our companion article detailing the quality of DNA in nail and hair, by synthesizing published, and new preliminary genetic data obtained from feathers. As with nail and hair, we demonstrate that although DNA can, in general, be recovered from all parts of the feather, the quality of such DNA varies. As such, although one can expect a priori that genetic analyses are possible on the feather, for PCR based analyses, it is extremely difficult to predict the size of amplicon that can be used in such analyses. However, PCR-free genetic analyses that can exploit much smaller DNA fragments may promise to be a powerful tool for future exploitation.
AB - Although good quality DNA can be recovered from the base of the calamus of freshly sampled feathers, as from other fully keratinized tissues such as nail or hair shaft, the quality and quantity of DNA in the majority of feather structures is much poorer. Little research has been performed to characterize the quality of this DNA is, and thus what a researcher might be able to achieve when using feathers as a source of DNA. In this review, we expand on our companion article detailing the quality of DNA in nail and hair, by synthesizing published, and new preliminary genetic data obtained from feathers. As with nail and hair, we demonstrate that although DNA can, in general, be recovered from all parts of the feather, the quality of such DNA varies. As such, although one can expect a priori that genetic analyses are possible on the feather, for PCR based analyses, it is extremely difficult to predict the size of amplicon that can be used in such analyses. However, PCR-free genetic analyses that can exploit much smaller DNA fragments may promise to be a powerful tool for future exploitation.
U2 - 10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.003
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 21489767
SN - 0940-9602
VL - 194
SP - 31
EP - 35
JO - Annals of Anatomy
JF - Annals of Anatomy
IS - 1
ER -