title: From the field to the lab: best practices for field preservation of bat specimens for molecular analyses.
abstract: Studies in molecular ecology depend on field-collected samples for genetic information, and the tissue sampled and preservation conditions strongly affect the quality of the DNA obtained. DNA yields from different tissue types have seldom been compared, and the relative performance of storage media has never been directly tested, even though these media may influence DNA degradation under field conditions. We analyzed DNA yield from buccal swabs and wing punches harvested from live bats using nucleic acid quantification as well as quantitative PCR for a single-copy nuclear locus. We also compared DNA yields from wing tissue preserved in three media: ethanol, NaCl-saturated dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and silica desiccant. Wing punches yielded more total DNA than did buccal swabs, and wing tissues preserved in silica beads yielded significantly more total and nuclear DNA than those preserved in DMSO or ethanol. These results show that tissue type and preservation media strongly influence the quantity of DNA obtained from non-lethal genetic samples, and based on these effects we provide recommendations for field collection of tissues for genetic analyses.
authors: Department of Sciences, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), New York, New York, United States of America; Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
authors: Angelique
authors: A
authors: Corthals
authors: Department of Biology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, United States of America.
authors: Alynn
authors: A
authors: Martin
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
authors: Omar M
authors: OM
authors: Warsi
authors: Department of Biology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, United States of America.
authors: Megan
authors: M
authors: Woller-Skar
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors: Winston
authors: W
authors: Lancaster
authors: Department of Biology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, United States of America.
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Russell
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America; Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
authors: Liliana M
authors: LM
authors: Dávalos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009055:Mouth; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D014021:Tissue Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D014921:Wings, Animal
chemical_list: D004247:DNA