Isolation of genomic DNA from feathers

The use of feathers in veterinary clinical practice simplifies the sampling of avian genomic DNA, especially when blood extraction is difficult becaus e of the age or the size of the bird. A rapid and accurate protocol was use d to isolate high-quality genomic DNA from feathers. The technique includes a lysis step of the feather quill, which differs in temperature and time o f incubation depending on the feather size. Purification of genomic DNA is performed with phenol: chloroform: isoamyl alcohol extraction and ethanol p recipitation. This protocol consistently provided significant amounts of hi gh-quality genomic DNA from more than 800 birds belonging to 120 different species. Genomic DNA isolated with this method was used for Southern blotti ng and also in several polymerase chain reaction systems devoted to sex det ermination and paternity testing.