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While DNA has built the framework for molecular insights from museum collections, the utility of archival RNA remains largely unexplored. Likely a consequence of the known instability of RNA relative to DNA, this has effectively nullified the use of herbaria for transcriptomics. Here, we challenge the assumption that herbaria cannot be used for transcriptomics by assembling transcriptomes from RNA extracted from herbarium specimens. Through systematic comparison of transcriptomes from fresh-collected, silica-dried, and archival specimens, we demonstrate the suitability of herbarium-derived RNA for transcriptomics. The practical applicability of archival mRNA was further illustrated by the functional validation of a plant immune receptor synthesized from a specimen collected in 1956. These results contradict the community consensus regarding archival RNA and open the door to subsequent transcriptomic explorations in rare and extinct species. Our findings highlight the importance of preserving and utilizing the diversity embedded within herbarium collections.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
* https://zenodo.org/records/14720388