Genetic characterisation of wild ungulates: successful isolation and analysis of DNA from widely available bones can be cheap, fast and easy

By

Buzan, Elena
Potušek, Sandra
Urzi, Felicita
Pokorny, Boštjan
Šprem, Nikica

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

965

Pages

141--156

Subjects

amplification success , Bones , demineralisation , DNA extraction , population genetics , skulls , wild ungulates

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.965.54862

 

Abstract

Genetic characterisation of wild ungulates can be a useful tool in wildlife management and in obtaining a greater understanding of their biological and ecological roles in a wider spatiotemporal context. Different ways of optimising methodologies and reducing the costs of genetic analyses using widely available bone tissues collected within regular hunting allocations were examined. Successful isolation and analysis of DNA from widely available bones can be cheap, fast and easy. In particular, this study explored the possibility of using bones for extracting high quality nuclear DNA for microsatellite analysis. The utility of applying a modified demineralisation process using two commercially available DNA isolation kits, which differ significantly in price, was evaluated. The sample sets included bones and, for comparison, muscle tissues from four wild ungulate species: chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). For the recent bones, these results confirmed that the DNA concentrations and microsatellite amplification were sufficiently high, even when using low-cost kits, after prior demineralisation. For old bones, prior demineralisation and use of a specially designed isolation kit led to a more successful extraction of DNA. Besides reducing kit-related costs, low-cost kits are much faster and therefore make genetic analysis more efficient.