Journal: Journal of Micropalaeontology

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Geological Society

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0262-821X

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  • How long after death is DNA preserved in situ in intertidal foraminifera?
    Item type: Journal Article
    Schweizer, Magali (2015)
    Journal of Micropalaeontology
    Getting DNA from foraminifers is a difficult task, but it can greatly help the identification of species and the phylogeny of the group (e.g. Pawlowski, 2000; Schweizer et al., 2008; Pawlowski & Holzmann, 2014) which are still mainly based on test morphol- ogy. Therefore, it is crucial to document the test morphology of the sampled specimens and extract DNA from them separately from each other (Pawlowski & Holzmann, 2014). To increase the chances of recovering DNA from a single individual, it is best to pick live foraminifers. However, a major question is how long DNA can outlast an organism after its death in natural conditions (e.g. Lindahl, 1993). This question may seem trivial to biologists but many foraminiferologists with a geological background ques- tion the length of time of decay for DNA in situ. The preservation of DNA when storing foraminifers after sampling has been dis- cussed previously (Holzmann & Pawlowski, 1996), but not its preservation in situ in intertidal conditions. The present experi- ment is designed to test how long after death DNA can still be obtained with routine DNA amplifications when picking dead for- aminifers instead of living ones in intertidal environments.
Publications 1 - 1 of 1