RNAssist_Microbiota_study

The study aim is to examine the effect of various nucleic acid fixation/stabilisation protocols on the microbiota composition of faecal samples. Comparison of the fixed/stabilised samples with control DNA extracted from the fresh sample prior to fixation will give a picture of how well all the components of the microbiota are preserved. The ultimate goal, should one of the nucleic acid preservation methods return data sufficiently similar to freshly processed control, is to simplify sample collection and processing in the clinic and in the field. Extraction of DNA from a fresh sample remains the gold standard for faecal microbiota studies. Where preservation cannot be avoided samples are often frozen or suspended in alcohol, unfortunately this commonly results in the under-representation of phyla such as the Bacteroidetes in extracted DNA. Cells lyse during preservation their genomic DNA lost during sample processing required for the remainder of the faecal sample. Should RNAssist prove capable of preserving the entire composition of the faecal microbiota and return a breakdown comparable to that of the fresh control, this would be a step towards significantly easier sample collection and processing.