Hello, I am a graduate student who is trying to extract DNA from feathers stored in ethanol (95%) collected from Costa's Hummingbirds (Calypte costae) and am getting very low yields. I am using the Dneasy Kit and the user-protocol for extracting DNA from the Qiagen website. My yields are averaging 1.5 ng/ul. My goal is to determine if the primers (P8/P2 and 1272H/1237L) can accurately determine the sex of an individual. I have decreased the overall elution (2 washes of 50ul each for a total of 100ul) and am incubating the AE buffer at 70C for 5 minutes. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated!
Frustrated graduate, Erin
