title: Metagenomics to paleogenomics: large-scale sequencing of mammoth DNA.
abstract: We sequenced 28 million base pairs of DNA in a metagenomics approach, using a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) sample from Siberia. As a result of exceptional sample preservation and the use of a recently developed emulsion polymerase chain reaction and pyrosequencing technique, 13 million base pairs (45.4%) of the sequencing reads were identified as mammoth DNA. Sequence identity between our data and African elephant (Loxodonta africana) was 98.55%, consistent with a paleontologically based divergence date of 5 to 6 million years. The sample includes a surprisingly small diversity of environmental DNAs. The high percentage of endogenous DNA recoverable from this single mammoth would allow for completion of its genome, unleashing the field of paleogenomics.
authors.affiliation: McMaster Ancient DNA Center, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton ON, L8S 4L9 Canada. poinarh@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Hendrik N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Poinar
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Ross D E
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Macphee
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Buigues
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tikhonov
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Huson
authors.forename: Lynn P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Tomsho
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Auch
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rampp
authors.forename: Webb
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Stephan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Schuster
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D019295:Computational Biology; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics; D004606:Elephants / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils; D015723:Gene Library; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000737:chemistry*; D010163:Paleontology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012800:Siberia
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D045303:Cytochromes b