7/14/17: Got allozymes? Trehalose can help!

Allozymes once ruled the day but have now been all but replaced by modern genotypic markers. However, many collections of allozyme homegenates still exist, and for some species, particularly those of conservation concern, these collections may be the only sources of historical genetic material. Sequencing from allozyme homogenates has often come up short, but Mike Yuan has figured out a simple way to significantly improve sequencing success: just add some trehalose to your PCR reactions. His method is described in Conservation Genetics Resources.

Yuan M.L., Wogan G.O.U., and Wang I.J. (2017) Improved PCR amplification of vertebrate nuclear DNA from historical allozyme homogenates. Conservation Genetics Resources. doi: 10.1007/s12686-017-0811-4