Successful Amplification of Mitochondrial DNA from Dentin of the Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus

摘要

Twenty-four teeth of Tursiops truncatus from the collection of the Marine Mammals Laboratory (FURG-RS) wereanalysed for their potential as DNA source for population genetic and taxonomic studies. All teeth were submitted todecontamination, grinding and demineralisation processes. Dentin powder was weighed for DNA extraction, whichwas evaluated by the amplification of two mitochondrial genes through PCR using universal primers. Cytochrome-bgene was amplified successfully. PCR products showed concentrations of 3-12 ng/ mu l for dentin powder, which waspositively correlated to the quantity of dentin powder used for DNA extraction. To rule out contamination a SSCPwas carried out including positive controls, and samples of humans involved in the analysis. The SSCP patterns forT. truncatus differed from all others, showing also polymorphism for the region. It was concluded that dentin was agood source of mtDNA for genetic studies in dolphins.