DNA FROM BEACH-WASHED SHELLS OF THE RAM'S HORN SQUID, SPIRULA SPIRULA

摘要

Fresh tissue samples of cryptic, rare, and deep-sea molluscan species are often difficult, if not impossible, to obtain for molecular studies. Although museums can provide preserved tissue samples of many rare species, those collected prior to the 1980s are primarily formalin fixed, making the extraction and amplification of DNA improbable. Improvements in the extraction and amplification of DNA from bone, feathers, hair, and soil have led to studies boasting 120 bp of DNA obtained from samples over 400,000 yrs old (Willerslev et al., 2003). The successful application of such DNA extraction techniques to dried molluscan samples (e.g., shells, cuttlebones, opercula) obtained directly from the environment would greatly increase the suite of species readily available for molecular studies.