Affiliation:
1. Federal Scientific Center for Animal Husbandry named after Academy Member L.K. Ernst
Abstract
Poultry eggs contain high-quality proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, which makes them an indispensable product in human nutrition. Egg whites have exceptional foaming, emulsifying, gelling, and heat setting properties, making them popular for use in baked goods. The knowledge accumulated so far about egg whites has now settled on a stable opinion that there are no cells, and no DNA, in them. However, this study demonstrates the possibility of extracting chicken genomic DNA from the outer thin whites of chicken eggs. For DNA extraction, foremost, protein degradation of the samples by trypsin was used. The amount of isolated DNA ranged from 0.3880 ± 0.0348 to 0.6380 ± 0.0545 μg/ml of the white sample. A PCR test based on 18S ribosomal DNA showed that the DNA isolated from the outer thin white contained avian genomic DNA. Furthermore, cloning and sequencing of the bird-specific PCR fragment showed that this DNA belongs to chickens (Gallus gallus). In addition, staining with Hoechst 33342 showed the presence of cell nuclei in the samples. Therefore, this study demonstrates that chicken egg whites contain chicken genomic (nuclear) DNA and cell nuclei (i. e., and cells).