Durham University Researchers Cut DNA Extraction Time from Days to Hours with the PowerPlant® Pro DNA Isolation Kit

The PowerPlant® Pro DNA Isolation kit has cut DNA extraction time from days to hours for one Durham University researcher. The MoBio kit, part of Cambio’s expanding range of molecular biology products, is being used in a study of arctic forest patches. These are self-contained areas of forest, separated by arctic tundra. Their shape and arrangement can play a role in how the tree line expands, for example under the effects of global warming, making this an important field of study.

The PowerPlant® Pro DNA Isolation kit quickly isolates genomic DNA from even difficult plant sample types such as strawberry leaf, cotton seeds and pine needles. Inhibitor removal technology removes 100% of PCR inhibitors, polyphenolics and polysaccharides to result in pure DNA for use in downstream applications. It is therefore well suited for use with arctic plant samples, and performed noticeably better than common CTAB methods.

Researcher Alice Rowland is focusing on the hybridisation of birch trees in Northern Sweden where both genetic and environmental factors may affect the structure of the forest patches.

“I was using the standard CTAB method for DNA extraction but found it to be quite temperamental with the birch specimens,” she said. “It also took on average two days to collect results but with PowerPlant® Pro I’ve managed to reduce this to two hours, and it’s reliable.”

The nucleic acid isolation and purification kits are produced by MoBio, a leader in soil, water and microbial nucleic acid purification, and are available from Cambio.