[NHCOLL-L:1464] Re: Formaline and DNA

[Lawrence L. Lovell]

Hi,

I found the following reference to DNA analysis of formalin fixed
specimens. Scott France is now at the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC.

Larry

Tue Feb 5 11:25:59 2002
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
Database: Zoological Record Plus (1997-1999)
Query: AU=(France, Scott)
Your Comments: 

Record 1 of 1

TI: Title
    DNA sequencing of formalin-fixed crustaceans from archival
    research collections
AU: Author
    France, Scott C {a}; Kocher, Thomas D
AF: Author Affiliation
    {a} Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard
    University, The Biological Laboratories, 16 Divinity Ave.,
    Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
SO: Source
    MOLECULAR MARINE BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY 5(4), December, 1996:
    304-313
AB: Abstract
    Marine invertebrate collections have historically been maintained
    in ethanol following fixation in formalin. These collections may
    represent rare or extinct species or populations, provide detailed
    time-series samples, or come from presently inaccessible or
    difficult-to-sample localities. We tested the viability of
    obtaining DNA sequence data from formalin-fixed, ethanol-preserved
    (FFEP) deep-sea crustaceans, and found that nucleotide sequences
    for mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI genes can be recovered from
    FFEP collections of varying age, and that these sequences are
    unmodified compared with those derived from frozen specimens.
    These results were repeatable among multiple specimens and
    collections for several species. Our results indicate that in the
    absence of fresh or frozen tissues, archived FFEP specimens may
    prove a useful source of material for analysis of gene sequence
    data by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing.
DE: Descriptors
    CRUSTACEA; GENETIC TECHNIQUES; NUCLEIC ACIDS; MOLECULAR GENETICS;
    DNA sequencing of formalin fixed specimens from archival
    collections
SY: Systematics
    . CRUSTACEA
SX: Supertaxa
    Invertebrates; Arthropods; Crustaceans
UD: Update
    13400
AN: Accession Number
    13400020197
F1: IVIP
    1053-6426,5,4,304-313,1996
A1: Alert Info
    20001231



At 01:53 PM 2/4/02 -0800, Tonya Haff wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I am looking into the effects of formaline on DNA - I have a small 
>herp collection, and I would like to add to it, but don't want to 
>damage potential for future DNA extraction from wet specimens.  I 
>have come across information on both sides of the fence - some 
>articles state that formaldehyde solutions permanently damage tissue 
>DNA, other articles state the opposite.  Does anyone have thoughts or 
>information on this?  If formaline does affect DNA, can anyone 
>suggest alternative preservation methods that are more DNA-friendly 
>(perhaps freezing small tissue samples?).
>
>Thanks,
>
>Tonya
>-- 
>Tonya M. Haff, Senior Museum Scientist
>Museum of Natural History Collections
>Department of Environmental Studies
>University of California
>Santa Cruz, CA 95064  USA
>Phone: (831) 459-4763, Fax: (831) 459-4015
>Email: thaff at cats.ucsc.edu
>
>
>
				

Lawrence L. Lovell, Museum Scientist
Benthic Invertebrate Collection 
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
9500 Gilman Drive   Mail Code 0244
La Jolla, California  92093-0244
voice (858) 822-2818  
fax (858) 822-3310  
email <llovell at sio.ucsd.edu>  

Visit the Benthic Invertebrate Collection Website at:
http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/library/loc_services/bi/