DNA extraction and amplification from contemporary Polynesian bark-cloth.

BACKGROUND: Paper mulberry has been used for thousands of years in Asia and Oceania for making paper and bark-cloth, respectively. Museums around the world hold valuable collections of Polynesian bark-cloth. Genetic analysis of the plant fibers from which the textiles were made may answer a number of questions of interest related to provenance, authenticity or species used in the manufacture of these textiles. Recovery of nucleic acids from paper mulberry bark-cloth has not been reported before. METHODOLOGY: We describe a simple method for the extraction of PCR-amplifiable DNA from small samples of contemporary Polynesian bark-cloth (tapa) using two types of nuclear markers. We report the amplification of about 300 bp sequences of the ITS1 region and of a microsatellite marker. CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient DNA was retrieved from all bark-cloth samples to permit successful PCR amplification. This method shows a means of obtaining useful genetic information from modern bark-cloth samples and opens perspectives for the analyses of small fragments derived from ethnographic materials

Metabolism of low molecular weight lignin-related compounds by Streptomycetes viridosporus T7A

Artículo de publicación ISIThe ability of the ligninolytic actinomycete Streptomyces viridosporus T7A to degrade selected lignin model compounds, both in the presence and in the absence of lignocellulose, was examined. Compounds studied included benzyl alcohols and aldehydes, plus dimers possessing intermonomeric linkages, which are characteristic of the lignin macromolecule. Oxidation of veratryl alcohol to the corresponding acid was significant only under ligninolytic growth conditions, i.e., in medium containing lignocellulose, while other benzyl alcohols and aldehydes were raedily oxidized in its absence. S. viridosporus T7A reduces carbonylic groups of 1,2-diarylethane, but not 1,2-diarylpropane structures, under both ligninolytic and non-ligninolytic culture conditions. Cleavage of 1.2-diarylpropane (β-1), arylglycerol-β-arylather (β--0-4) and biphenyl structures by this strain could not be detected under either metabolic conditions

Comparison of DNA yield extracted from fresh tissues from an individual <i>B. papyrifera</i> plant and from bark-cloth from Easter Island.

<p>Yields obtained from DNA extractions of leaves, root and fresh bark. 1 H: One hour treatment with cellulase; 3 H: 3 hours treatment with cellulase; EI1: Easter Island sample 1; EI2: Easter Island sample 2. Standard deviations from triplicates are indicated.</p

A tale of textiles: Genetic characterization of historical paper mulberry barkcloth from Oceania

Humans introduced paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) from Taiwan into the Pacific over 5000 years ago as a fiber source to make barkcloth textiles that were, and still are, important cultural artifacts throughout the Pacific. We have used B. papyrifera, a species closely associated to humans, as a proxy to understand the human settlement of the Pacific Islands. We report the first genetic analysis of paper mulberry textiles from historical and archaeological contexts (200 to 50 years before present) and compare our results with genetic data obtained from contemporary and herbarium paper mulberry samples. Following stringent ancient DNA protocols, we extracted DNA from 13 barkcloth textiles. We confirmed that the fiber source is paper mulberry in nine of the 13 textiles studied using the nuclear ITS-1 marker and by statistical estimates. We detected high genetic diversity in historical Pacific paper mulberry barkcloth with a set of ten microsatellites, showing new alleles and specific genetic patterns. These genetic signatures allow tracing connections to plants from the Asian homeland, Near and Remote Oceania, establishing links not observed previously (using the same genetic tools) in extant plants or herbaria samples. These results show that historic barkcloth textiles are cultural materials amenable to genetic analysis to reveal human history and that these artifacts may harbor evidence of greater genetic diversity in Pacific B. papyrifera in the past.Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) FONDECYT 1120175 FONDECYT 1180052 University of Chile Programa PME (BP-A) Programa Enlace Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas y Farmaceuticas, PEEI 201

Amplification of the microsatellite SS05 locus using DNA obtained from different <i>B. papyrifera</i> tissues and bark-cloth.

<p>Lane 1∶100 bp DNA Ladder, lane 2: <i>Morus</i> (leaf), lane 3: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (leaf), lane 4: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (fresh bark), lane 5: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (root), lane 6: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (root hair), lane 7: Easter Island bark-cloth sample 2, lane 8: Negative control, lane 9: H₂O.</p

Amplification of the ITS region using DNA obtained from bark-cloth.

<p>A.- Complete ITS region, lane 1∶100 bp DNA Ladder, lane 2: <i>Morus</i> (leaf), lane 3: <i>B. papyrifera</i> 1 (leaf), lane 4: <i>B. papyrifera</i> 2 (leaf), lanes 5 to 9: bark-cloth samples. Lane 5: Easter Island 1, lane 6: Easter Island 2, lane 7: Tonga, lane 8: Marquesas, lane 9: Samoa, lane 10: H₂O. B.- ITS1 region, lane 1∶100 bp DNA Ladder, lane 2: <i>Morus</i> (leaf), lane 3: <i>B. papyrifera</i> 1 (leaf), lane 4: <i>B. papyrifera</i> 2 (leaf), lanes 5 to 9: bark-cloth samples. Lane 5: Easter Island 1, lane 6: Easter Island 2, lane 7: Tonga, lane 8: Marquesas, lane 9: Samoa, lane 10: Negative control, lane 11: H₂O. C.- ITS1 region, lane 1∶100 bp DNA Ladder, lane 2: <i>Morus</i> (leaf), lane 3: bark-cloth from Hawaii, lane 4: Negative control, lane 5: H₂O.</p

Absorption profiles of DNA extracted from fresh <i>B. papyrifera</i> tissues and bark-cloth samples.

<p>A: Negative control; B: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (leaf); C: <i>B. papyrifera</i> (bark); D – I: <i>B. papyrifera</i> bark-cloth from D: Easter Island, sample 1; E: Easter Island, sample 2; F: Marquesas; G: Samoa; H: Hawaii; I: Tonga.</p