Foot mucus stored on FTA® cards is a reliable and non-invasive source of DNA for genetics studies in molluscs

In this study, a non-invasive method for DNA sampling of terrestrial molluscs using mucus stored on FTA cards is described. DNA was isolated from FTA cards impregnated with terrestrial mollusc mucus, which were collected from four mollusc families. DNA was stored for approximately 2 months at room temperature. For two mollusc families, DNA was extracted from foot tissue as a cross-check against the DNA obtained from mucus. Amplification of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA was successful for all mucus samples and in all cases the sequences matched those obtained from tissue samples, but also sequences from the same species, genus or family (depending on their availability) from GenBank. These results show that isolating mucus on FTA cards is a very efficient alternative to sampling tissue for genetic studies of terrestrial molluscs, and particularly for conservation genetic studies. This non-invasive method is rapid, reliable and very easy to put in practice in field situations.