title: Isolation and characterization of deoxyribonucleic acid from tissue of the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius.
abstract: DNA was isolated from tissue samples of several mammoth specimens, radiocarbon dated between 10,000 and 53,000 years old. The DNA was purified by chromatography on hydroxyapatite at 60 degrees C and was characterized as a heterogeneous population of fragments ranging in size from 3000 to 200 base pairs. Thermal denaturation analysis demonstrated that approximately 25% of the DNA had a base composition similar to Asian elephant DNA calculated as 36% G + C. Preliminary analysis by nucleic acid hybridization indicated that only a small fraction of DNA isolated from mammoth tissue (2-5%) was homologous to DNA of Asian elephant, a close living relative of the mammoth. Our results provide the first definitive isolation and characterization of DNA from ancient tissue and suggest a purification strategy that will lead to preparations of DNA from mammoth tissue significantly enriched in elephant-related DNA sequences.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004606:Elephants / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010163:Paleontology
chemical_list: D004247:DNA