Skin swabs with FTA® cards as a dry storage source for amphibian DNA

Ward, A; Hide, G; Jehle, R

Abstract

Amphibians are the most endangered group of vertebrates, and conservation measures increasingly rely on information drawn from genetic markers. The present study explores skin swabs with Whatman FTA® cards as a method to retrieve PCR-amplifiable amphibian DNA. Swabs from ten adult great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) were used to compare FTA® card-based protocols with tissue sampling based on toe clips. PCR success rates were measured for seven microsatellite markers and one mtDNA marker (ND4) after 6 months of sample storage. We demonstrate that the merging of eight FTA® card punches from Qiagen-based DNA extraction always led to successful amplifications in at least one replicate, at an overall PCR success rate of 78%. The newly established protocol has the potential for wide application to future DNA-based amphibian studies.

Citation

Ward, A., Hide, G., & Jehle, R. (2019). Skin swabs with FTA® cards as a dry storage source for amphibian DNA. Conservation Genetics Resources, 11, 309-311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-018-1018-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Mar 2, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 15, 2019
• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 5, 2018
• Journal: Conservation Genetics Resources
• Print ISSN: 1877-7252
• Electronic ISSN: 1877-7260
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Volume: 11
• Pages: 309-311
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-018-1018-z
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12686-018-1018-z
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/journal/12686