Plant DNA sequences from feces: Potential means for assessing diets of wild primates

被引:69
作者
Bradley, Brenda J. [1 ]
Stiller, Mathias
Doran-Sheehy, Diane M.
Harris, Tara
Chapman, Colin A.
Vigilant, Linda
Poinar, Hendrik
机构
[1] Max Planck Inst Evolutionary Anthropol, Leipzig, Germany
[2] SUNY Stony Brook, Dept Anthropol, Stony Brook, NY 11794 USA
[3] McGill Univ, Dept Anthropol, Montreal, PQ, Canada
[4] McMaster Univ, Dept Anthropol, Hamilton, ON, Canada
关键词
diet; DNA; feces; rbcL; ITS-2; DNA bar coding;
D O I
10.1002/ajp.20384
中图分类号
Q95 [动物学];
学科分类号
071002 ;
摘要
Analyses of plant DNA in feces provides a promising, yet largely unexplored, means of documenting the diets of elusive primates. Here we demonstrate the promise and pitfalls of this approach using DNA extracted from fecal samples of wild western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza). From these DNA extracts we amplified, cloned, and sequenced small segments of chloroplast DNA (part of the rbcL gene) and plant nuclear DNA (ITS-2). The obtained sequences were compared to sequences generated from known plant samples and to those in GenBank to identify plant taxa in the feces. With further optimization, this method could provide a basic evaluation of minimum primate dietary diversity even when knowledge of local flora is limited. This approach may find application in studies characterizing the diets of poorly-known, unhabituated primate species or assaying consumer-resource relationships in an ecosystem.
引用
收藏
页码:699 / 705
页数:7
相关论文
共 19 条
[1]   Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs [J].
Altschul, SF ;
Madden, TL ;
Schaffer, AA ;
Zhang, JH ;
Zhang, Z ;
Miller, W ;
Lipman, DJ .
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH, 1997, 25 (17) :3389-3402
[2]   Accurate DNA-based sex identification of apes using non-invasive samples [J].
Bradley, Brenda J. ;
Chambers, Karen E. ;
Vigilant, Linda .
CONSERVATION GENETICS, 2001, 2 (02) :179-181
[3]   Molecular scatology as a tool to study diet: analysis of prey DNA in scats from captive Steller sea lions [J].
Deagle, BE ;
Tollit, DJ ;
Jarman, SN ;
Hindell, MA ;
Trites, AW ;
Gales, NJ .
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, 2005, 14 (06) :1831-1842
[4]   Western lowland gorilla diet and resource availability: New evidence, cross-site comparisons, and reflections on indirect sampling methods [J].
Doran, DM ;
McNeilage, A ;
Greer, D ;
Bocian, C ;
Mehlman, P ;
Shah, N .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, 2002, 58 (03) :91-116
[5]   Genomewide comparison of DNA sequences between humans and chimpanzees [J].
Ebersberger, I ;
Metzler, D ;
Schwarz, C ;
Pääbo, S .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS, 2002, 70 (06) :1490-1497
[6]  
GUSTINCICH S, 1991, BIOTECHNIQUES, V11, P298
[7]  
Harris D. J., 2002, SCRIPTA BOT BELGICA, V23
[8]  
Harris T.R., 2005, THESIS YALE U NEW HA
[9]   A molecular analysis of ground sloth diet through the last glaciation [J].
Hofreiter, M ;
Poinar, HN ;
Spaulding, WG ;
Bauer, K ;
Martin, PS ;
Possnert, G ;
Pääbo, S .
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, 2000, 9 (12) :1975-1984
[10]  
HOSS M, 1992, NATURE, V359, P99