[Taxacom] Taxonomic haves/have nots

[Robin Leech]

And what happens if the "fresh specimen" you collect are
of a different cryptospecies than the ones the DNA was done on?  All for 
naught.

I am presently collecting sawflies and other hyms for a friend in Ottawa. 
He want the specimens in 80% Ethanol, and
kept at -20C for his DNA work.  Getting them to him in a day by special 
express, or by people going from Edmonton to
Ottawa who will hand-carry the specimens, are both OK.

Robin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Mesibov" <mesibov at southcom.com.au>
To: "stuart longhorn" <sjl197 at hotmail.com>
Cc: <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Taxonomic haves/have nots


> Stuart, I couldn't agree with you more that taxonomists should think ahead 
> and preserve fresh material, where available, in something that 
> facilitates later DNA extraction. Note that 'where available' means fresh 
> specimens, which aren't always at hand (see my previous post).
>
> That 'something' would usefully be other than absolute EtOH at -80C, too. 
> What's known, for example, about extracting good DNA after long storage in 
> 100% propylene glycol? Reagent grade PG isn't dirt cheap, but it beats 
> EtOH for safety, among other things.
>
> And while I think it's a good idea to do this, at the moment you could see 
> it as a triumph of hope over experience. When I get asked for DNA vouchers 
> from my part of the world, they almost always go to a project looking for 
> phylogenetically far-flung exemplars to rough out a Big Tree. In other 
> words, the money comes from a grant to answer some Big Question in 
> systematics, not the detail work that taxonomists have focused on for most 
> of the last 250 years.
> -- 
> Dr Robert Mesibov
> Honorary Research Associate
> Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
> School of Zoology, University of Tasmania
> Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
> 03 64371195; 61 3 64371195
> Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/?articleID=570
>
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