DNA from formalin-fixed animals

[Dr. Andrew G. McArthur]

Colleagues,

Has anyone used the recently published Shedlock et al. (1997, citation
below) extraction protocol for formalin-fixed marine invertebrates.  I
would like some feedback on this protocol.  It is very similar to the
Shiozawa et al. (1992) based methods (ie. France & Kocher 1996, Vachot &
Monnerot 1996) except for the inclusion of glycine during the first soak to
act as a binding agent for excess formalin.  They also included
dithiothreitol and RNAse in the SDS/ProtK incubations.  I would like to
know if this protocol is a useful improvement for marine invertebrates.
Much thanks.

Dr. Andrew G. McArthur
Laboratory of Molecular Systematics
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
mcarthur at onyx.si.edu

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France & Kocher. 1996. DNA sequencing of formalin-fixed crustaceans from
archival research collections. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology
5: 304-313.

Shedlock et al. 1997. Enhanced DNA extraction and PCR amplification of
mitochondrial genes from formalin-fixed museum specimens. Biotechniques 22:
394-400.

Shiozawa et al. 1992. DNA extraction from preserved trout tissues. Great
Basin Naturalist 52: 29-34.

Vachot & Monnerot. 1996. Extraction, amplification and sequencing of DNA
from formalin-fixed specimens. Ancient Biomolecules 1: 3-16.