DNA analysis of tropical plant species: An assessment of different drying methods

Use of molecular techniques to study plant systematics has been restricted to either largely temperate groups or groups from which seed is readily obtained. Dried material has advantages over other methods of preservation for molecular analyses; it is cheap, easily undertaken, overcomes the difficulties associated with seed recalcitrance and the absence of seeding plants in the field, and most taxonomists are familiar with the method. Three drying techniques were assessed using material collected in the tropics. No differences in either the quantity or the quality of DNA extracted from material dried by these methods was detected. The implications of using dried material in molecular analyses are discussed.