Nucleic acid degradation after long-term dried blood spot storage

Collecting and preserving biological samples in the field, particularly in remote areas in tropical forests, prior to laboratory analysis is challenging. Blood samples in many cases are used for nucleic acid-based species determination, genomics or pathogen research. In most cases, maintaining a col...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology resources 2024-08, Vol.24 (6), p.e13979
Main Authors: Li, Juan, Ulloa, Gabriela M, Mayor, Pedro, Santolalla Robles, Meddly L, Greenwood, Alex D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acids
Ambient temperature
Animals
Biological properties
Biological samples
Blood
Cellulose
Cold storage
Controlled storage
Cryopreservation
Dried Blood Spot Testing - methods
Filter paper
Genomic analysis
Hybridization
Nucleic acids
Nucleic Acids - blood
Nucleic Acids - genetics
Nucleic Acids - isolation & purification
Pathogens
Preservation, Biological - methods
RNA viruses
Specimen Handling - methods
Storage conditions
Substrates
Time Factors
Tropical forests
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Collecting and preserving biological samples in the field, particularly in remote areas in tropical forests, prior to laboratory analysis is challenging. Blood samples in many cases are used for nucleic acid-based species determination, genomics or pathogen research. In most cases, maintaining a cold chain is impossible and samples remain at ambient temperature for extended periods of time before controlled storage conditions become available. Dried blood spot (DBS) storage, blood stored on cellulose-based paper, has been widely applied to facilitate sample collection and preservation in the field for decades. However, it is unclear how long-term storage on this substrate affects nucleic acid concentration and integrity. We analysed nucleic acid quality from DBS stored on Whatman filter paper no. 3 and FTA cards for up to 15 years in comparison to cold-chain stored samples using four nucleic acid extraction methods. We examined the ability to identify viral sequences from samples of 12 free-ranging primates in the Amazon forest, using targeted hybridization capture, and determined if mitochondrial genomes could be retrieved. The results suggest that even after extended periods of storage, DBS will be suitable for some genomic applications but may be of limited use for viral pathogen research, particularly RNA viruses.
ISSN:1755-098X
1755-0998
1755-0998
DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13979