Identification of Streptococcus parasanguinis DNA contamination in human buccal DNA samples

BACKGROUND: The use of buccal swabs in clinical and scientific studies is a very popular method of collecting DNA, due to its non-invasive nature of collection. However, contamination of the DNA sample may interfere with analysis. FINDINGS: Here we report the finding of Streptococcus parasanguinis bacterial DNA contamination in human buccal DNA samples, which led to preferential amplification of bacterial sequence with PCR primers designed against human sequence. CONCLUSION: Contamination of buccal-derived DNA with bacterial DNA can be significant, and may influence downstream genetic analysis. One needs to be aware of possible bacterial contamination when interpreting abnormal findings following PCR amplification of buccal swab DNA samples.