Ancient DNA chronology within sediment deposits: are paleobiological reconstructions possible and is DNA leaching a factor?

Ancient DNA Chronology within Sediment Deposits: Are Paleobiological Reconstructions Possible and is DNA Leaching a Factor? Research Article

Ice Ages and the mitochondrial DNA chronology of human dispersals: a review.

Modern DNA, in particular maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), is now routinely used to trace ancient human migration routes and to obtain absolute dates for genetic prehistory. The errors on absolute genetic dates are often large (50% or more) and depend partly on the inherent evolutionary signal in the DNA data, and partly on our imperfect knowledge of the DNA mutation rate. Despit...

Crosslinks rather than strand breaks determine access to ancient DNA sequences from frozen sediments.

Diagenesis was studied in DNA obtained from Siberian permafrost (permanently frozen soil) ranging from 10,000 to 400,000 years in age. Despite optimal preservation conditions, we found the sedimentary DNA to be severely modified by interstrand crosslinks; single- and double-stranded breaks; and freely exposed sugar, phosphate, and hydroxyl groups. Intriguingly, interstrand crosslinks were found...

DNA content and distribution in ancient feathers and potential to reconstruct the plumage of extinct avian taxa.

Feathers are known to contain amplifiable DNA at their base (calamus) and have provided an important genetic source from museum specimens. However, feathers in subfossil deposits generally only preserve the upper shaft and feather 'vane' which are thought to be unsuitable for DNA analysis. We analyse subfossil moa feathers from Holocene New Zealand rockshelter sites and demonstrate that both an...

Use of ancient sedimentary DNA as a novel conservation tool for high-altitude tropical biodiversity.

Conservation of biodiversity may in the future increasingly depend upon the availability of scientific information to set suitable restoration targets. In traditional paleoecology, sediment-based pollen provides a means to define preanthropogenic impact conditions, but problems in establishing the exact provenance and ecologically meaningful levels of taxonomic resolution of the evidence are li...