Genomic DNA Isolation In Plants: What It Involves

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Good isolation of a plant’s DNA is considered elementary for molecular research. Therefore, experts reveal that yielding, maintaining, and quality DNA extraction are among the most challenging tasks for animals.

DNA isolation from plants is usually compromised by excessive contamination by secondary metabolites. This is why each isolation method should be adjusted explicitly to each plant species and tissue, all because of the presence of these metabolites.

DNA Isolation In Plants: Basic Principle

The basic principle of DNA isolation through plant DNA isolation kit is the disruption of the cell wall, cell membrane, and nuclear membrane to release highly intact DNA into solution, followed by precipitation of DNA and removal of contaminating biomolecules that include:

* Proteins

* Lipids

* Phenols

* Polysaccharides

Thankfully, the search for more effective and efficient means of extracting higher quality and yield DNA has led to the development of several products for isolating DNA from plants containing high levels of secondary metabolites.

Degradation Of DNA

Many factors are responsible for the shearing of DNA during extraction. Degradation of DNA due to endonucleases is one specific problem found in isolating and purifying high molecular weight DNA from plants, directly or indirectly affecting enzymatic reaction.

However, apart from the traditional extraction methods discussed above, several high-quality commercial kits are also available to extract genomic DNA from plants with sufficient quality. For example, for extracting genomic DNA, mechanical grinding of a leaf sample is carried out in the very presence of liquid nitrogen. This method’s ultimate aim is to access the nuclear material without degradation.

In some ways, DNA isolation protocols tend to use phenol to separate cellular molecules and debris from the DNA, which is toxic, hazardous, and expensive. They require special facilities to maximize personal safety while also minimizing environmental impact.

It is important to note that the convenience provided by the other two methods is one aspect due to which these methods are relatively more considered. To counter the above-said techniques that involve the use of hazardous chemicals, researchers have also focused on eliminating these dangerous chemicals and some costly kits and equipment for high throughput DNA extraction.

This is why most DNA extraction protocols recommend fresh leaf samples for genomic DNA isolation.

Using a plant DNA isolation kit provides high-quality DNA consisting of elevated levels of polysaccharides and polyphenolic compounds. These kits help us eliminate the need for expensive liquid nitrogen and environmentally hazardous phenol to obtain high-quality genomic DNA.

Note

The number of proteins, lipids, and polyphenols are varied and different in each sample. The amount of these components vary according to plant species and plant part used in environmental conditions and growth stages. However, these contaminants can be eliminated during extraction by standardizing the basic DNA extraction protocol.

Author’s Bio - The author is a blogger and this article is a brief on plant DNA extraction protocol and what it involves.