Dear Leigh,

we preserve fish fin clips which are notorious for rapid breakdown of DNA in 100% alcohol. Basically the DNA preservation works by dehydration (removal of water) so higher AOH concentration is probably better. Make sure it is pure and not contaminated with aldehydes. For short term preservation just putting the skin sample in a small plastic bag with ~5-10X the volume of the skin sample in dry table salt will also work for ~1-2 months. 

We have extracted and sequenced DNA from samples preserved like this (100% AOH) as well as genotyped these samples using methods that require less stringent DNA quality. Typically we run a 2% agarose gel to check for any degradation. 

If you take the sample and dry the alcohol off it for several hours the DNA extraction protocol described in this paper works well  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24740141

Hope this helps

Cheers

John

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24740141

Dear John,

thank you this is great information just what I needed

have a great day

Hi Leigh, you may already know but Susan Fuller from QUT has done some work on feral pig genetics in nth Qld - she would be worthwhile contacting re collaborations/methods. We (Biosecurity Qld) may be able to assist as well.

cheers

Matt

Hi Matthew, thank you for the tip I will look Susan up I am sure I have seen her article. I would love to have BQ assistance I will send through more details when my project plan is more advanced.  Have a great day

Leigh