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Updated: Aug 23, 2026
A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
[The comparison of three ways for extracting nucleic acid from rats hair]
Yujuan Hu1, Weijia Kong, Yuechen Han
1Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
Objective:
To discuss the method of extracting nucleic acid from rat's hair.
Method:
The method with PCR buffer, SDS-proteinase K or Chelex-100 were used to extract the nucleic acid from rat's hair separately, and the isolated nucleic acid was analyzed by PCR and electrophoresis.
Result:
The success rate of antracting mt DNA from the hair gollcle, we gound the method with SDS-prot einase kis lower than the ather two methods (chi1(2) = 42.421, chi2(2) = 28.800, P<0.01). This is same as the result ot entracting nuclear DNA (chi1(2) = 49.091, chi2(2) = 30.767, P<0.01). While no alifference has been bound between the method with PCR buffer and with chelex-100 (mtDNA: chi(2) = 0.296; nuclear DNA: chi(2) = 0.048, P>0.05). The method with PCR buffer can't extract nucleic acid from hair shafts, the method with SDS-proteinase K can't extract mtDNA from one or two hairs, the method with Chelex-100 can extract mtDNA and nuclear DNA from single rat's hair or hair shafts.
Conclusion:
The method with Chelex-100 is suitable for extracting nucleic acid from hair.
