[Nhcoll-l] Best tissues to take for mammal specimens

[Cody Thompson]

Hi, Rebecca!  My response would be to take them all.  You only get one
opportunity to sample that species from a particular locality and point in
time.  Of course, this assumes you have ample growth space in your tissue
collection.

Take care,
Cody

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Associate Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Office: (734) 615-2810
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: cwthomp at umich.edu
Website: codythompson.org

*Please click here to support the UMMZ Mammal Division, its collections,
and research mission!!!*
<https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/mammals/donate-to-the-mammal-division.html>


On Tue, Oct 17, 2023 at 11:28 AM Mullon, Madeleine <
madeleine_mullon at fas.harvard.edu> wrote:

> Hi Rebecca,
>
>
>
> If I recall correctly, the tissue found to have the greatest genomic DNA
> load was spleen. However, seeing as it’s impractical to locate the spleen
> on many small mammals, we opt for liver and muscle here at MCZ. Our current
> standard practice is to take 1 vial of liver and 1 vial of skeletal muscle
> for storage in our cryogenic collection. Our thinking is that the liver is
> more rich in DNA yield, and the muscle is more stable in long-term cold
> storage. This works for most of our specimens, which tend to be local
> species that are plentiful. If the specimen we are prepping is of
> particular interest or rarity, we will often take extra if the animal is
> large enough to do so. If the specimen is too decomposed, we may skip liver
> (since it autolyzes so quickly) and instead take 2 muscle samples. We don’t
> typically save other tissue samples unless they have been specifically
> requested (heart tissue, skin samples in RNALater, etc.).
>
>
>
> There was a good article out of Texas Tech about the cold preservation of
> different tissue types, and the time interval at which the genetic material
> degrades at different temperatures. Skeletal muscle is most stable over
> time, though not as high in yield as spleen or liver, which both tend to
> autolyze quickly. Here: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab009
> <http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyab009>
>
>
>
> This is a different paper I found while I was looking for the
> aforementioned one, more to do with preservation of RNA in liver and
> spleen: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167391
> <https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0167391>
>
>
>
> Best,
>
>
>
> Madeleine Mullon
>
> She/they
>
> MCZ Mammalogy
>
>
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> * On Behalf Of *Hawkins,
> Rebecca K.
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:42 AM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Best tissues to take for mammal specimens
>
>
>
> Hello all,
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of primary literature or have advice on the most useful
> tissue samples to take when preparing mammal specimens? We are looking to
> reevaluate what tissue samples we currently take and which tissues are
> stored together. We currently take three tissue tubes per specimen for
> storage in liquid nitrogen: 1) heart and kidney, 2) liver, and 3) muscle.
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> Rebecca Hawkins (she/her)
>
> Curatorial Associate
>
> Sam Noble Museum
>
> 2401 Chautauqua Ave.
>
> Norman, OK 73072
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