Amplifiability of  mitochondrial, microsatellite and amelogenin DNA loci from fecal samples of red  brocket deer Mazama americana (Cetartiodactyla, Cervidae).
We  tried to amplify mitochondrial, microsatellite and amelogenin loci in DNA from  fecal samples of a wild Mazama americana population. Fifty-two deer  fecal samples were collected from a 600-ha seasonal semideciduous forest  fragment in a subtropical region of Brazil (21°20'S, 47°17'W), with the help of  a detection dog; then, stored in ethanol and georeferenced. Among these samples  16 were classified as "fresh" and 36 as "non-fresh". DNA was extracted using  the QIAamp(®) DNA  Stool Mini Kit. Mitochondrial loci were amplified in 49 of the 52 samples. Five  microsatellite loci were amplified by PCR; success in amplification varied  according to locus size and sample age. Successful amplifications were achieved  in 10/16 of the fresh and in 13/36 of the non-fresh samples; a negative  correlation (R = -0.82) was found between successful amplification and locus  size. Amplification of the amelogenin locus was successful in 22 of the 52  samples. The difficulty of amplifying nuclear loci in DNA samples extracted from  feces collected in the field was evident. Some methodological improvements,  including collecting fresh samples, selecting primers for shorter loci and  quantifying the extracted DNA by real-time PCR, are suggested to increase  amplification success in future studies.
Núcleo de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cervídeos, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil. oliveiraml1@yahoo.com.br
M L
ML
Oliveira
J M B
JM
Duarte
D053523:Amelogenin / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D003670:Deer / Q000235:genetics*; D005243:Feces; D056426:Genetic Loci; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods*
D053523:Amelogenin; D004247:DNA