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- Tap, J., et al.
(author)
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Effects of the long-term storage of human fecal microbiota samples collected in RNAlater
- 2019
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The adequate storage of fecal samples from clinical trials is crucial if analyses are to be performed later and in long-term studies. However, it is unknown whether the composition of the microbiota is preserved during long-term stool storage (>1 year). We therefore evaluated the influence of long-term storage on the microbiota composition of human stool samples collected in RNAlater and stored for approximately five years at -80 degrees C. We compared storage effects on stool samples from 24 subjects with the effects of technical variation due to different sequencing runs and biological variation (intra-and inter-subject), in another 101 subjects, based on alpha-diversity, beta-diversity and taxonomic composition. We also evaluated the impact of initial alpha-diversity and fecal microbiota composition on beta-diversity instability upon storage. Overall, long-term stool storage at -80 degrees C had only limited effects on the microbiota composition of human feces. The magnitude of changes in alpha-and betadiversity and taxonomic composition after long-term storage was similar to inter-sequencing variation and smaller than biological variation (both intra- and inter-subject). The likelihood of fecal samples being affected by long-term storage correlated with the initial relative abundance of some genera and tend to be affected by initial taxonomic richness.
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