Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMIS), Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Kalahari Research Centre, Kuruman River Reserve, Van Zylsrus, South Africa.
PeerJ. 2022 Mar 15;10:e13095. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13095. eCollection 2022.
The transport and storage of samples in temperatures of minus 80 °C is commonly considered as the gold standard for microbiome studies. However, studies conducting sample collection at remote sites without a reliable cold-chain would benefit from a sample preservation method that allows transport and storage at ambient temperature.
In this study we compare alpha diversity and 16S microbiome composition of 20 fecal sample replicates from Damaraland mole-rats () preserved in a minus 80 °C freezer and transported on dry ice to freeze-dried samples that were stored and transported in ambient temperature until DNA extraction.
We found strong correlations between relative abundances of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) between preservation treatments of the sample, no differences in alpha diversity measures between the two preservation treatments and minor effects of the preservation treatment on beta diversity measures. Our results show that freeze-drying samples can be a useful method for cost-effective transportation and storage of microbiome samples that yields quantitatively almost indistinguishable results in 16S microbiome analyses as those stored in minus 80 °C.
将样本储存在零下 80°C 的温度下通常被认为是微生物组研究的黄金标准。然而，对于在没有可靠冷链的偏远地区进行样本采集的研究，需要一种能够在环境温度下进行运输和储存的样本保存方法。
在这项研究中，我们比较了保存在零下 80°C 冰箱中并通过干冰运输至冻干样本的 20 份粪便样本重复的 alpha 多样性和 16S 微生物组组成，这些样本在环境温度下储存和运输直至 DNA 提取。
我们发现样本保存处理之间的扩增子序列变异 (ASV) 相对丰度之间存在很强的相关性，两种保存处理之间的 alpha 多样性测量值没有差异，保存处理对 beta 多样性测量值的影响较小。我们的结果表明，冻干样本是一种经济有效的微生物组样本运输和储存方法，在 16S 微生物组分析中，其结果与保存在零下 80°C 的样本几乎无法区分。
