Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on October 7, 2008
Journal of Heredity 2009 100(2):246-250; doi:10.1093/jhered/esn083
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Brief Communications |
Simultaneous Extraction of High-Quality RNA and DNA from Small Tissue Samples
From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Address correspondence to A. Whitehead at the address above, or e-mail: andreww{at}lsu.edu.
Purification of high-quality DNA and RNA from a single sample is becoming increasingly important for studies seeking both genomic and transcriptomic data. We compare different methods for isolating DNA and RNA from fish embryos (Gulf killifish; Fundulus grandis) and describe an optimal technique to extract high-quality DNA and RNA from a single embryo. The optimal method utilizes a chaotropic buffer and spin column technology. From embryos weighing
4 mg, we were able to isolate an average of 6.1 µg of DNA and 1.1 µg of RNA per sample. Relative amounts of DNA and RNA can be adjusted as needed per study. Although these extraction trials were conducted on fish embryos, they can be potentially applied to small samples that typically do not yield high concentrations of nucleic acids.
Key Words: fish embryo fundulus microarray nucleic acid TRIzol
Corresponding Editor: Jose Lopez
Received June 10, 2008
Revised August 13, 2008
Accepted September 5, 2008