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DNA extraction from Spinach

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an annual and edible flowering plant, native to central and southwestern Asia. Primitive forms of spinach are found in Nepal and that is probably where the plant was first domesticated.

Popeye the Sailor Man has a strong affinity for spinach, becoming physically stronger after consuming it. This is partially due to the iron content being mistakenly reported ten times the actual value, a value that was rechecked during the 1930s, where it was revealed that the original German scientist, Dr. E. von Wolf, had misplaced a decimal point in his calculations.

How to do it

DNA from frozen spinach (commercially processed) can be extracted using MoleStrips DNA plant.

1) Weigh out ~320 mg frozen spinach tissue (enough for 4 samples).

2) Add 1000 µl Plant Lysis buffer and homogenize using steel beads and a Pecellys shaker set at 5000 rpm, 2x20 sec.

3) Incubate for 20 min at 65°C, followed by centrifugation at 12,000 rpm for 2 minutes.

4) Transfer 200 µl of the lysate to the GeneMole sample tubes.

5) Set up and run the GeneMole using the Plant DNA protocol.

Results

Elution volume: 100µl
Average concentration (n=4): 64ng/µl
Quality A260/280: 2,13
Quality A260/230: 1,79

Downstream application tested

PCR

Authors comments

Homogenization of spinach tissue (80mg) using ceramic beads gave an average concentration of 40ng/µl. Thus, the average output was slightly better using steel beads.

It is easier to load 200 µl of lysate when increasing the centrifugation step from 2 min up to 8 min after incubation at 65°C.

(04/22/10) Monica Opsal, Mole Genetics