Manual and automated preparation of single-stranded DNA libraries for the sequencing of DNA from ancient biological remains and other sources of highly degraded DNA.

It has been shown that highly fragmented DNA is most efficiently converted into DNA libraries for sequencing if both strands of the DNA fragments are processed independently. We present an updated protocol for library preparation from single-stranded DNA, which is based on the splinted ligation of an adapter oligonucleotide to the 3' ends of single DNA strands, the synthesis of a complementary strand using a DNA polymerase and the addition of a 5' adapter via blunt-end ligation. The efficiency of library preparation is determined individually for each sample using a spike-in oligonucleotide. The whole workflow, including library preparation, quantification and amplification, requires two work days for up to 16 libraries. Alternatively, we provide documentation and electronic protocols enabling automated library preparation of 96 samples in parallel on a Bravo NGS Workstation (Agilent Technologies). After library preparation, molecules with uninformative short inserts (shorter than ~30-35 base pairs) can be removed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis if desired.