A universal primer set for PCR amplification of nuclear histone H4 genes from all animal species.

Pascal Pineau (1) , Michel Henry (2) , Rodolphe Suspène (2) , Agnès Marchio (1) , Agnès Dettaï (3) , Régis Debruyne (4) , Thierry Petit (5) , Alexis Lécu (6) , Pierre Moisson (7) , Simon Wain-Hobson (2) , Anne Dejean (1) , Jean Pierre Vartanian (2)

1 Organisation Nucléaire et Oncogenèse
2 Rétrovirologie Moléculaire
3 SAE - Systématique, adaptation, évolution
4 Paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements
5 Zoo de la Palmyre
6 Services Vétérinaires, Zoo de Vincennes
7 Jardin Zoologique, Mulhouse

To control the quality of genomic DNA of samples from a wide variety of animals, a heminested PCR assay specifically targeting a nuclear gene has been developed. The histone H4 gene family comprises a small number of genes considered among the most conserved genes in living organisms. Tissue samples from necropsies and from cells belonging to 43 different species were studied, eight samples from invertebrates and 35 samples from vertebrates covering all classes. Ancient DNA samples from three Siberian woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) dating between 40,000 and 49,000 years before present were also tested for PCR amplification. Performance of HIST2H4 amplification were also compared with those of previously published universal PCRs (28S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and cytochrome b). Overall, 95% of species studied yielded an amplification product, including some old samples from gorilla and chimpanzees. The data indicate that the HIST2H4 amplimers are, thus, suitable for both DNA quality testing as well as species identification in the animal kingdom.

Mots clés: vertebrates; histone H4; PCR

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

Pascal Pineau, Michel Henry, Rodolphe Suspène, Agnès Marchio, Agnès Dettaï, et al.. A universal primer set for PCR amplification of nuclear histone H4 genes from all animal species.. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2005, 22 (3), pp.582-8. ⟨10.1093/molbev/msi053⟩. ⟨hal-00096817⟩