TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-destructive sampling of ancient insect DNA
AU - Thomsen, Philip Francis
AU - Elias, Scott
AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.
AU - Haile, James
AU - Munch, Kasper
AU - Kuzmina, Svetlana
AU - Froese, Duane G.
AU - Sher, Andrei
AU - Holdaway, Richard N.
AU - Willerslev, Eske
PY - 2009/4/1
Y1 - 2009/4/1
N2 - Background: A major challenge for ancient DNA (aDNA) studies on insect remains is that sampling procedures involve at least partial destruction of the specimens. A recent extraction protocol reveals the possibility of obtaining DNA from past insect remains without causing visual morphological damage. We test the applicability of this protocol on historic museum beetle specimens dating back to AD 1820 and on ancient beetle chitin remains from permafrost (permanently frozen soil) dating back more than 47,000 years. Finally, we test the possibility of obtaining ancient insect DNA directly from non-frozen sediments deposited 3280-1800 years ago - an alternative approach that also does not involve destruction of valuable material. Methodology/Principal Findings: The success of the methodological approaches are tested by PCR and sequencing of COI and 16S mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments of 77-204 base pairs (-bp) in size using species-specific and general insect primers. Conclusion/Significance: The applied non-destructive DNA extraction method shows promising potential on insect museum specimens of historical age as far back as AD 1820, but less so on the ancient permafrost-preserved insect fossil remains tested, where DNA was obtained from samples up to ca. 26,000 years old. The non-frozen sediment DNA approach appears to have great potential for recording the former presence of insect taxa not normally preserved as macrofossils and opens new frontiers in research on ancient biodiversity.
AB - Background: A major challenge for ancient DNA (aDNA) studies on insect remains is that sampling procedures involve at least partial destruction of the specimens. A recent extraction protocol reveals the possibility of obtaining DNA from past insect remains without causing visual morphological damage. We test the applicability of this protocol on historic museum beetle specimens dating back to AD 1820 and on ancient beetle chitin remains from permafrost (permanently frozen soil) dating back more than 47,000 years. Finally, we test the possibility of obtaining ancient insect DNA directly from non-frozen sediments deposited 3280-1800 years ago - an alternative approach that also does not involve destruction of valuable material. Methodology/Principal Findings: The success of the methodological approaches are tested by PCR and sequencing of COI and 16S mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments of 77-204 base pairs (-bp) in size using species-specific and general insect primers. Conclusion/Significance: The applied non-destructive DNA extraction method shows promising potential on insect museum specimens of historical age as far back as AD 1820, but less so on the ancient permafrost-preserved insect fossil remains tested, where DNA was obtained from samples up to ca. 26,000 years old. The non-frozen sediment DNA approach appears to have great potential for recording the former presence of insect taxa not normally preserved as macrofossils and opens new frontiers in research on ancient biodiversity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=64249161443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0005048
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0005048
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 19337382
AN - SCOPUS:64249161443
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 4
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
IS - 4
M1 - e5048
ER -