DNA extraction from bird feathers using magnetic bead-based method

[Tania Mahmood]

Hi, anyone please make me clear if it is possible to extract DNA from bird feathers by magnetic bead-based DNA extraction method ? If any kind of literature or protocol is available on it then kindly share the link also.



Thanks in advance.

[CharonY]

Not my field of expertise, but fundamentally the purification step (e.g. columns vs liquid vs magnetic bead extraction) is less critical as there are many variations to improve yield or other critical parameters, depending how you scale them. 

Often the issues before that step, such as how fresh the specimens are and the lysis steps which have a higher impact. And how critical it is, also depends on the precise workflow after isolation. If you just want to do a PCR e.g. on mtDNA, it is easier than getting high quality DNA for whole genome sequencing, for example.

From what I can see it is fairly straightforward for fresh feathers, but if you are dealing with older ones, you might want to look at protocols that specifically refer to molted feathers.