Putative ancient microorganisms from amber nuggets Authors Patricia Veiga-Crespo Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Lucía Blasco Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Margarita Poza Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Tomás G. Villa Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Keywords: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, amber, Miocene, Cretaceous, microfossils, micropaleontology Abstract Evolutionary microbiology studies based on the isolation of ancient DNA and/or microbial samples are scarce due to the difficulty of finding well preserved biological specimens. However, amber is a fossil resin with natural preserving properties for microbial cells and DNA. The visualization by transmission electron microscopy of different microorganismlike specimens found in amber nuggets from both the Miocene and the Cretaceous periods was accompanied by studies of ancient DNA obtained from the nuggets. After the design of specific primers based on the present sequences of both genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ancestral AGP2 sequence from the Miocene, as well as the 18S rRNA from the Cretaceous, were amplified. [Int Microbiol 2007; 10(2):117-122] Author Biographies Patricia Veiga-Crespo, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Lucía Blasco, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Margarita Poza, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Tomás G. Villa, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Downloads PDF Published 2010-01-26 Issue Vol. 10 No. 2 (2007) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
