Fixing Formalin: A Method to Recover Genomic-Scale DNA Sequence Data from Formalin-Fixed Museum Specimens Using High-Throughput Sequencing.

ABSTRACT: For 150 years or more, specimens were routinely collected and deposited in natural history collections without preserving fresh tissue samples for genetic analysis. In the case of most herpetological specimens (i.e. amphibians and reptiles), attempts to extract and sequence DNA from formalin-fixed, ethanol-preserved specimens-particularly for use in phylogenetic analyses-has been laborious and largely ineffective due to the highly fragmented nature of the DNA. As a result, tens of thousands of specimens in herpetological collections have not been available for sequence-based phylogenetic studies. Massively parallel High-Throughput Sequencing methods and the associated bioinformatics, however, are particularly suited to recovering meaningful genetic markers from severely degraded/fragmented

SUBMITTER: Hykin SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4623518 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature