Hi,

I am in the process of planning for one too. What kind of  samples will you be collecting? Fecal/ buccal/skin?

I think the best way is with RNAlater. I had good results with fecal samples preserved with RNAlater.

for the gut microbiome study, it is best preferred to work with the fecal samples even the gut content can be used. It should be preferable stored at -20 or -80 till further use.

 Hi Diana, 

   I would recommond you this publication, hope it will help.

--

Xin

Its totally depends on the sample type

which type of samples you are going to study

In our lab, for 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis or metagenomices, we store the samples as they come, without the addition of ethanol or other liquids, at -80C. We work with stool, swabs, water, saliva, etc, and we all put them in our -80C without adding preservatives. 

For RNA analysis, it would be a different story (RNAlater might be useful in that case), but if you are planning to only do ribosomal gene amplification or metagenomics (i.e. only DNA work) I would recommend storing them "dry", without adding anything.

RNALater was originally designed by Ambion team for preservation of RNA in tissue. But it was successfully used by a number of groups to preserve RNA in microbiome samples as well. i saw three papers on DNA stabilization as well (stool, soil, etc) with RNA later- but dont think it actually helps. we tried two commercially available tubes for stool DNA stabilization- results were pretty bad... so we still primarily preserve microbiome samples by freezing -80

The best way to collect and stabilize samples for microbiome studies is to utilize a preservative.   There are some devices available that collect and preserve stool or saliva for e.g. to ship at ambient temperature and render the samples safe for shipping while also stabilizing the DNA and RNA for reliable microbiota profiles.  

Here is a relevant poster that was presented at the Plant & Animal Genomics (PAG) Meeting:   

http://bit.ly/1MvSokb

If you are looking at collecting Saliva for example there is another poster  presented at PAG 2016:

http://bit.ly/1ZGq0y6

Hope this information is helpful.