Chelex-based DNA isolation procedure for the identification of microbial communities of eggshell surfaces.

Microbial communities present on eggshell surfaces of wild birds are weakly studied, especially their influence on embryo infection and, thus, egg viability. Bacterial density of wild bird eggshells is very low, and most DNA extraction protocols are frequently unsuccessful. We have efficiently adapted a chelex-based DNA isolation method for 16S ribosomal gene amplification from the total communities of eggshell surfaces from six avian species.