Chloroplast DNA from 16th century waterlogged oak in a marine environment
Initial steps in sourcing the Mary Rose timbers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23639556 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alanna K Speirs (The University of Queensland, corresponding author), Glenn McConnachie (Mary Rose Trust), Andrew J Lowe (0000-0003-1139-2516, The University of Queensland) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Publication date | 2009-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Archaeological science under a microscope (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | ANU Press (PUBLISHER • AU) |
| DOI | 10.22459/ta30.07.2009.13 |
| OpenAlex | W2803576949 |
| ISBN | 9781921536847 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 5 |
This paper reports initial results of a palaeogenetic analysis of timbers from the hull of the English Tudor flagship Mary Rose. The study is the first step in assessing the feasibility of extracting and amplifying chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) from these timbers, which were preserved in a marine environment for more than four centuries. The ultimate goal of this research is to determine the provenance of oak (Quercus spp.) used in the ship's manufacture, following previous work demonstrating that the chloroplast genome of modern European oak populations exhibits a strong phylogeographic structure. Experimental trials revealed that extraction methods developed for modern oak wood were inadequate owing to the presence of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors in the Mary Rose timbers. A series of treatments were tested to develop a new extraction protocol, resulting in cpDNA recovery from one archaeological sample. These results represent the first successful extraction and amplification of cpDNA from waterlogged archaeological oak wood from a marine environment.
Archaeology · Biology · Botany · Geography · Rose (mathematics) · Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics · Horticulture · Plant Diversity and Evolution · Plant responses to water stress
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| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2023 (13) |
| Highly cited | No |