DNA preservation: A microsatellite-DNA study on ancient skeletal remains

Abstract

To determine the effect of environmental factors on the preservation of DNA, archeological teeth of approximately similar age but greatly differing site milieu were examined for DNA content. The complex relational system of locational milieu of the samples was reduced to its essential and, at the same time, easily measurable factors. These are temperature, humidity, pH value, the geochemical properties of the soil, the amount of postmortal organic substances and the general degree of microbial infestation in the respective soil. The relative DNA content in the samples was established by determining the rate of successful polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications. Differences in quantity and quality of the results are attributed to the respective prevailing environmental factor or to the respective storage conditions. Dryness, low temperature and absence of microorganisms favors the preservation of DNA. The bioapatite of bones and teeth, like the DNA, are preserved under neutral or slightly alkaline conditions. Brief storage at room temperature does not affect the amount of amplifiable DNA but does affect the reproducibility of the results. Long storage outside a lab freezer reduces the amount and the reproducibility of DNA amplifications in ancient specimens.

Bona fide colour: DNA prediction of human eye and hair colour from ancient and contemporary skeletal remains

“…Low temperature and low humidity are known to prevent DNA degradation [46], allowing successful DNA analysis even after tens of thousands of years [1]. Here we show that a complete 24 SNP HIrisPlex profile was obtained from a 12 th century sample (S24) collected from a skeleton that rested in relatively favourable conditions in a church.…”

“…On the other hand, a partial profile was obtained from a relatively young contemporary sample (S17) that was found in open soil. However, it is difficult, as had been outlined previously [46], to draw generalizing conclusions from such data. For instance, a different 12 th century sample stored under expectedly similar conditions also excavated from inside a church (S25) yielded a partial HIrisPlex profile.…”

A multidisciplinary study of archaeological grape seeds

“…The variation in cloned sequences, however, showed a certain degree of microsatellite stutter, as expected for aDNA (Burger et al 1999). The data also indicate that it is highly unlikely that any of the results derived from contamination either between samples or from external sources.…”

The Application of Miniplex Primer Sets in the Analysis of Degraded DNA from Human Skeletal Remains*

“…Because only three of the six buried bone samples contained larger quantities of DNA, it was difficult to assess the effect of burial (six samples) vs. surface treatment (14 samples). DNA degradation may be affected by a variety of factors including humidity, temperature, soil pH, and the presence of microorganisms (20). These were not controlled in this study.…”