Related Experiment Videos
Routine DNA analysis based on 12S rRNA gene sequencing as a tool in the management of captive primates
Antoinette C. Van Der Kuyl1, David R.O. Van Gennep, John T. Dekker
1Department of Human Retrovirology, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Amsterdam Institute of Viral Genomics, Meibergdreef 45, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands, St. AAP, Shelter for Exotic Animals, Kemphaanweg 16, 1358 AB Almere, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Automated DNA sequencing of a fragment of the relatively slowly evolving mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was used to distinguish primate species, and the method was compared with species determination based upon classical taxonomy. DNA from blood from 53 monkeys housed at the Stichting AAP Shelter for Exotic Animals, all Old World monkeys, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a primer set spanning approximately 390 nucleotides of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. The products were directly sequenced and compared with our database of primate 12S sequences. Many individuals were found to harbor a 12S sequence identical to one of the reference sequences. For others, phylogenetic methods were used for species estimation, which was especially informative in Cercopithecus species.