Assessment of sample freezing as a preservation technique for analysing the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter in aquatic systems.

ABSTRACT: Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is widely studied in environmental and biogeochemical sciences, but is susceptible to chemical and biological degradation during sample transport and storage. Samples taken in remote regions, aboard ships, or in large numbers need to be preserved for later analysis without changing DOM composition. Here we compare high-resolution mass spectra of solid phase extractable DOM before and after freezing at -20 °C. We found that freezing increases compositional dissimilarity in DOM by between 0 to 18.2% (median = 2.7% across 7 sites) when comparing replicates that were frozen versus unfrozen, i.e., processed immediately after sampling, as compared with differences between unfrozen replicates. The effects of freezing primarily consisted of a poorer det

SUBMITTER: Fonvielle JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10427896 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature