We have posted detailed new protocols describing our methods to sequence key mammalian DNA barcodes. They can be found together with a growing number of field and lab protocols on the Kartzinel Lab's centralized protocol page.

You will find protocols for both the D-loop of the mitochondrial control region and the 16S marker are useful for identifying a diversity of mammals, and can be routinely amplified from degraded material such as fecal DNA. We have frequently used these protocols to confirm the identity of mammals in studies involving dietary DNA metabarcoding and/or host-microbiome interactions. They are also very useful for phylogenetic analyses. We have used various polymerases over the years, so these protocols may depart slightly from previously published versions (e.g., Kartzinel et al. 2019 PNAS). However, they reflect our current state-of-the-art strategy for routine work and should be generally more cost or time effective as a result of the changes. 

Since June 2025, we have increasingly made our internal lab methods publicly visible on the "Protocols" section of our webpage. We began with some of the most frequently requested protocols that speak to the unique strengths of our lab's work and experience, featuring field-to-lab protocols for collecting and banking dietary samples, parasite samples, and plant barcode samples. We have expanded to include...

Over the past couple of years, a lot of things have changed. Some changes have improved how we share the software and data that we generate in the lab, necessitated in part by the growing popularity of our work. We recognized a substantial benefit to enhancing our commitment to providing easy access and open-source principles and therefore made it easier to find and access our most in-demand repositories across a variety of platforms that include GitHub, Zenodo, NCBI, BOLD, etc. You can now easily find links with descriptions from our main Software & Data landing page. Check it out!

By Hannah Hoff

We have been doing a lot of plant DNA barcoding to build a library for the plants of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In the process, we have done some refinement to our lab's DNA barcoding protocols to increase clarity, efficiency, and reproducibility. Updated links to these protocols are available on the lab's wiki under the "Plant Barcoding" section for: trnL, rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA markers.