[NHCOLL-L:5213] Collection pest control and DNA

[Kjell Arne Johanson]

Dear List,

Over the last decades many natural history museums have more or less intensively used chemical treatment for pest control of their collections. Among the most frequently applied compounds are dichlorvos, naphthalene and paradichlorbenzene. Till recently, we didn't know if the specimens being exposed by these compounds were still available for molecular based scientific studies, or damaged. Because part of our known species diversity is known only from museum collections, and are difficult to impossible to obtain as fresh material, it is interesting to know if such museum material is available also for modern molecular studies. In a recent paper the level of DNA degradation was tested after tissue was exposed by the above three chemicals, to see if the exposure could negatively affect the suitability for molecular studies.

The paper can be downloaded at http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/7/1/2

Kjell Arne Johanson
____

Dr. Kjell Arne Johanson
Entomology Department
Swedish Museum of Natural History
Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 5195 4088. Fax: +46 8 5195 4099
kjell.arne.johanson at nrm.se<mailto:kjell.arne.johanson at nrm.se> — http://www.nrm.se — http://publicationslist.org/kjell.arne.johanson






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