The Holocene

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Register here to gain access to SAGE's 500+ Journals Online

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bennett, K. D.
Right arrow Articles by Parducci, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
The Holocene, Vol. 16, No. 8, 1031-1034 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683606069383

DNA from pollen: principles and potential

K. D. Bennett

Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Geocentrum, Villavägen Uppsala, Sweden; keith.bennett{at}geo.uu.se

L. Parducci

Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Geocentrum, Villavägen Uppsala, Sweden

This paper describes our recent extraction of ancient DNA (aDNA) from Holocene pollen and discusses the potential of the technique for elucidatingtimescales of evolutionary change. We show that plastid DNA is recoverableand usable from pollen grains of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris from 10 ka and 100 years ago. Comparison of the ancient sequences with modern sequences,obtained from an extant population, establish a first genetic link betweenmodern and fossil samples of Scots pine, providing a genetic continuity through time. One common haplotype is present in each of the three periods investigated, suggesting that it persisted near the lake throughout the postglacial. The retrieval of aDNA from pollen has major implications for palaeoecology by allowing (i) investigation of populationlevel dynamics in time and space, and (ii) tracing ancestry of populations and developing phylogenetic trees that include extinct as well as extant taxa. The method should work over the last glacial oscillation, thus giving access to ancestry of populations over a crucial period of time for the understanding of the relationship between speciation and climate change.

Key Words: Ancient DNA • pollen • plant population history • fossil • DNA sequence • Holocene.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
Y. Suyama, U. Gunnarsson, and L. Parducci
Analysis of short DNA fragments from Holocene peatmoss samples
The Holocene, September 1, 2008; 18(6): 1003 - 1006.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Progress in Physical GeographyHome page
G.M. MacDonald, K.D. Bennett, S.T. Jackson, L. Parducci, F.A. Smith, J.P. Smol, and K.J. Willis
Impacts of climate change on species, populations and communities: palaeobiogeographical insights and frontiers
Progress in Physical Geography, April 1, 2008; 32(2): 139 - 172.
[Abstract] [PDF]