DNA from keratinous tissue. Part II: feather

Maia E. Olsen; Camilla Friis Bengtsson; Mads Frost Bertelsen; Eske Willerslev; Tom Gilbert

doi:10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.003

DNA from keratinous tissue. Part II: feather

Maia E. Olsen, Camilla Friis Bengtsson, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Eske Willerslev, Tom Gilbert

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Journal	Annals of Anatomy
Volume	194
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	31-35
Number of pages	5
ISSN	0940-9602
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.003
Publication status	Published - 20 Jan 2012

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title = "DNA from keratinous tissue. Part II: feather",

abstract = "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.",

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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

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.

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DO - 10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.003

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JO - Annals of Anatomy

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ER -

DNA from keratinous tissue. Part II: feather

Abstract

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