title: Association of enzyme inhibition with methods of museum skin preparation.
abstract: Enzyme inhibition is commonly encountered when using molecular biological techniques on museum-prepared animal skin samples, and this problem is exacerbated by a lack of information on how particular skins have been prepared for preservation. This report: (i) demonstrates that while some methods of museum preparation inhibit both proteinase K digestion and the PCR, others do not; (ii) describes a change in buffer conditions that reduces proteinase K enzyme inhibition during tissue digestion: and (iii) uses electron-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXA) to show that the preparation methods for museum-preserved skin are often more complex than the treatment description provided with samples and also suggests that some of these descriptions are incorrect.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological & Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, England, UK.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Willcox
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D019286:Endopeptidase K / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009144:Museums; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry; D014021:Tissue Preservation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D004247:DNA; D019286:Endopeptidase K