Biology session

Collecting the shed feathers is a more and more wide-spread non-invasive sampling method used in the avian genetic studies. However, these feathers can be found on different types of fields (under the bushes, in the leaves, on the wet ground, or on dry rocks), and they can be disposed to numerous environmental effects.

We have created an experiment, in wich we investigated the effects of high relative humidity combined with high temperature, low relative humiditiy combined with high temperature and the effects of the ray of sunlight on the DNA extracted from the feathers.

For the experiment, we plucked feathers (second and third primaries) in 2010 and 2011 from greylag geese (Anser anser) during their moulting season, so the condition of the feathers was similar to those which were moulted naturally, and by doing so we avoided unknown environmental effects.

I examined 112 feathers altogether, 16 per treatment. The extraction of the DNA was performed by cutting out the superior umbilicus. I studied the fragmentation of the DNA by using the PCR to multiply nuclear DNA sequences with different lenght (151 bp, 300 bp, 500 bp and 985 bp).

The results showed that the DNA extracted from the shed feathers is most likely endangered by the microorganisms, that grow in high humidity. In the long-term, the ray of sunlight can also do considerable damage.