Stool metatranscriptomics: A technical guideline for mRNA stabilisation and isolation
Reck et al.
The finding, in our words
The Powermicrobiome Kit yielded the best RNA from stool, and RNA Later preserved mRNA integrity for six days at room temperature, though it introduced taxonomic and functional bias. RNA Protect was unsuitable beyond 24 hours. These findings support decentralised stool collection for metatranscriptomics but highlight the need to account for stabilisation reagent effects.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This study compared OMNIgene Gut tubes and FTA cards for stool collection in a deployed setting, finding that OMNIgene yielded higher nucleic acid concentrations while both methods detected the majority of microbial genera. The authors conclude that distinct microbial abundance profiles between the two methods necessitate standardised protocols for field research.
This study compared two preservatives for stool samples and found that OMNIgene GUT OMR-200 produced less variation in metagenomic taxonomic data across different storage temperatures, supporting its use in decentralised field studies. The authors recommend absolute quantification to address bias in microbial measurements.
In children, stool preserved in OMNIgene-GUT kept its microbial community structure better than unpreserved stool, with alpha and beta diversity similar to direct freezing, which supports the kit for decentralised stool collection from children.
Fecal and oral microbiome samples showed high stability over two years at -80°C, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.70–0.99 for stool and above 0.74 for saliva across most collection methods. Stool collected without additive and saliva collected with Scope mouthwash showed lower stability for some measures, demonstrating that collection method choice affects reliability of stored samples for microbiome analysis in decentralised diagnostics.
Stool samples collected in DNA/RNA Shield tubes showed better preservation of microbiome taxonomic composition and functional stability over 18 months than OMNIgene-Gut tubes. This demonstrates that ambient stabilisation enables reliable decentralised microbiome collection and long-term storage before analysis.