Pretreatment: Improving endogenous ancient DNA yields using a simple enzymatic predigestion step

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Ancient DNA samples generally contain a mixture of both endogenous and exogenous (contaminant) DNA. The authentic endogenous DNA content varies widely between samples and substrates but usually constitutes only a small fraction of the total DNA, while the remainder comprises contamination deriving from bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms and in some cases also modern human DNA. Recently, several protocols have been developed to improve access to the endogenous DNA fraction by decreasing the exogenous fraction prior to extraction. The most common of these involve pretreatment with single or multiple washes with weak sodium phosphate or sodium hypochlorite (bleach) solutions, as described in Chapter 2. Here, we present an alternative, less aggressive pretreatment protocol that uses a brief predigestion step in an EDTA-based lysis buffer to increase the endogenous fraction prior to extraction.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMethods in Molecular Biology
Number of pages4
PublisherHumana Press
Publication date1 Jan 2019
Pages21-24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019
SeriesMethods in Molecular Biology
Volume1963
ISSN1064-3745

    Research areas

  • Ancient DNA, Contamination, EDTA, Pretreatment, Proteinase K

ID: 231244977