Tissue sampling methods and standards for vertebrate genomics

Advances in sequencing technology over the last decade [1-3] have made it feasible to acquire a database for genomes of 10,000 species of vertebrates, analogous to the Human Genome Project. The Genome 10K Project (G10K), which proposes to catalogue whole-genome sequences across living mammals, birds, non-avian reptiles, amphibians, and fishes, will reveal the complex genomic architecture governing the physiology and development of closely and distantly related species [4]. Documenting the dynamic variation of species in a manner permitting detailed comparative genomic and genetic analyses will provide invaluable insight into the fundamental principles driving species’ adaptation to ecological and environmental interactions [5-7]. In this regard, the “Genomics Era” [7] holds promise for new population-genomic approaches to intraspecific biogeography [e.g., [8,9]] and population genetics [e.g., [10,11]] that are imperative to effective biodiversity conservation across species [5,6,12-14]. The process of sequencing, assembling, interpreting, and applying information using whole-genome approaches is starting and quickly building momentum.As a first step, the G10K Community of Scientists [4] proposes to assemble a collection of tissues and DNA samples representing 10,000 extant vertebrate species. This biospecimen collection will be increasingly valuable the more it is able to standardize procedures for collecting, transporting, and storing high-quality tissue samples. This process, which applies to all genomics projects, is remarkably complex and daunting, especially because many of the existing tissue collections have a history of development, preservation, and storage for different purposes. Many potential resources are not suitable given the requirements of current sequencing and assembly technologies, generally because of insufficient yields of high molecular weight DNA from ethanol-preserved or improperly frozen tissue samples.Proper collection and preservation of