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09:06
Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
Published on: July 3, 2016
Ancient microbes from halite fluid inclusions: optimized surface sterilization and DNA extraction.
Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan1, Michael N Timofeeff, Rita Spathis
1Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York, United States of America. ksankar1@binghamton.edu
Plos One
|June 23, 2011
Summary
This study presents a new method to extract ancient DNA from halite fluid inclusions, ensuring no surface contamination. This technique unlocks insights into Earth's ancient microbial life and evolution.
Area of Science:
- Geochemistry
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Fluid inclusions in evaporite minerals like halite can preserve ancient microbial DNA.
- Previous methods struggled to eliminate surface-bound DNA contamination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a reliable protocol for surface sterilization and DNA retrieval from halite fluid inclusions.
- To enable the study of ancient microbial diversity and environmental conditions.
Main Methods:
- Microscopic visualization of halite crystals.
- Deliberate surface contamination followed by acid and bleach sterilization.
- DNA extraction using Amicon centrifugal filters.
Main Results:
- Successfully retrieved DNA from fluid inclusions in halite of varying ages (modern to 150 ka).
- Identified DNA from algal and archaeal lineages.
- Characterized the ancient algal community composition using ITS1 sequences.
Conclusions:
- The developed protocol effectively removes surface DNA, providing a pure sample from fluid inclusions.
- This method opens new possibilities for studying ancient microbial ecosystems and evolution.
- Facilitates research into the antiquity of life on Earth and potentially other celestial bodies.
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