I want to find the best way to preserve buccal swab samples for microbiome studies. I would prefer a dry method (where the swab is not submerged in a lysis buffer or a stabilizing buffer) for ease of transportation, but if this is not possible I'm open to other methods.
Dear Hana Heiba , I work with 16S metagenomics (MiSeq, V3/V4 region). I do not know about your swab material. If it is cotton, plese, try polymeric swabs. I mean something like "cytological brush". It is soft and comfortable for sampling. Moreover this material do not accumulate a lot of saliva and do not change the volume in liquid buffers when you start DNA purification. You can store almost dry "cytological brush" with a sample in 3-7oC overnight without any additional manipulations or special medium. If you need to save it during a week, the better way is purified DNA.
Dear Hana,
If you need longer storage, Norgen has a hydraflock swab that comes with a preservative in a separate tube. The brush is also soft and comfortable for buccal swabs, then you can preserve the DNA for up to 2 years at room temp. The preservation will also prevent any microbiome profile shifts due to activity.
Link to Norgen's swabs: https://norgenbiotek.com/product/swab-collection-and-dna-preservation-system
Hope that helps!
JP
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