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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of primatology 2007-06, Vol.69 (6), p.699-705
Main Authors: Bradley, Brenda J., Stiller, Mathias, Doran-Sheehy, Diane M., Harris, Tara, Chapman, Colin A., Vigilant, Linda, Poinar, Hendrik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Biodiversity
Colobus
Colobus guereza
Computational Biology
Diet
DNA
DNA bar coding
DNA Primers
DNA, Chloroplast - genetics
Ecology - methods
Ecosystems
feces
Feces - chemistry
Genes
Gorilla gorilla
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
ITS-2
Molecular Sequence Data
Plants - genetics
Primates
Primatology
rbcL
Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase - genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Summary: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. Am. J. Primatol. 69:699–705, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0275-2565
1098-2345
DOI:10.1002/ajp.20384