The use of museum specimens with high-throughput DNA sequencers

摘要: Natural history collections have long been used by morphologists, anatomists, and taxonomists to probe the evolutionary process describe biological diversity. These archives also offer great opportunities for genetic research in taxonomy, conservation, systematics, population biology. They allow assays of past populations, including those extinct species, giving context present patterns variation direct measures processes. Despite this potential, museum specimens are difficult work with because natural postmortem processes preservation methods fragment damage DNA. problems restricted geneticists' ability use primarily limiting how much genome can be surveyed. Recent advances DNA sequencing technology, however, radically changed this, making truly genomic studies from possible. We review drawbacks specimens, suggest best execute projects when incorporating such samples. Several high-throughput (HT) methodologies, whole shotgun sequencing, sequence capture, restriction digests (demonstrated here), archived biomaterials.