eprintid: 10113678
rev_number: 26
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/11/36/78
datestamp: 2020-11-03 16:57:00
lastmod: 2021-11-15 01:44:09
status_changed: 2020-11-03 16:57:00
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Bensch, S
creators_name: Inumaru, M
creators_name: Sato, Y
creators_name: Lee Cruz, L
creators_name: Cunningham, AA
creators_name: Goodman, SJ
creators_name: Levin, II
creators_name: Parker, PG
creators_name: Casanueva, P
creators_name: Hernández, M
creators_name: Moreno‐Rueda, G
creators_name: Rojo, M
title: Contaminations contaminate common databases
ispublished: inpress
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C08
divisions: D09
divisions: F99
keywords: Haemoproteus, haemosporidian parasites, PCR contamination, plasmodium, sequence
databases
note: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
abstract: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a very powerful method to detect and identify pathogens. The high sensitivity of the method, however, comes with a cost; any of the millions of artificial DNA copies generated by PCR can serve as a template in a following experiment. If not identified as contaminations, these may result in erroneous conclusions on the occurrence of the pathogen, thereby inflating estimates of host range and geographic distribution. In the present paper, we evaluate whether several published records of avian haemosporidian parasites, in either unusual host species or geographical regions, might stem from PCR contaminations rather than novel biological findings. The detailed descriptions of these cases are shedding light upon the steps in the work process that might lead to PCR contaminations. By increasing the awareness of this problem, it will aid in developing procedures that keep these to a minimum. The examples in the present paper are from haemosporidians of birds, however the problem of contaminations and suggested actions should apply generally to all kinds of PCR‐based identifications, not just of parasites and pathogens.
date: 2020-10-31
date_type: published
publisher: Wiley
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13272
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1825397
doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13272
lyricists_name: Cunningham, Andrew
lyricists_id: AACUN07
actors_name: Austen, Jennifer
actors_id: JAUST66
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Molecular Ecology Resources
citation:        Bensch, S;    Inumaru, M;    Sato, Y;    Lee Cruz, L;    Cunningham, AA;    Goodman, SJ;    Levin, II;                     ... Rojo, M; + view all <#>        Bensch, S;  Inumaru, M;  Sato, Y;  Lee Cruz, L;  Cunningham, AA;  Goodman, SJ;  Levin, II;  Parker, PG;  Casanueva, P;  Hernández, M;  Moreno‐Rueda, G;  Rojo, M;   - view fewer <#>    (2020)    Contaminations contaminate common databases.                   Molecular Ecology Resources        10.1111/1755-0998.13272 <https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13272>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10113678/7/1755-0998.13272.pdf