Comparison of DNA quantity and quality from fecal samples of mammals transported in ethanol or lysis buffer.

Using fecal microbial community profiles through sequencing approaches helps to unravel the intimate interplay between health, wellness, and diet in wild animals with their environment. Ensuring the proper preservation of fecal samples before processing is crucial to ensure reliable results. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of two different preservation methods, considering the following criteria: DNA yield, quality and integrity, and microbial community structure based on Oxford Nanopore amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA and protozoa 18S rRNA genes.