Aim
To isolate DNA from plant materials such as spinach, green peas, papaya and any other available plant material.
Necessary Materials & Apparatus
- Any available plant materials
- Mortar and pestle
- Test tubes
- Beakers
- Ethanol
- Spool
- Enzymes (Cellulase, ribonuclease, lipases, protease)
Procedure
- Take the available plant material and grind it in the mortar.
- Treat the material with cellulase to break down the cell wall of the plant cells.
- Next, treat it with protease to hydrolyze the peptide bonds of proteins in the plant material. In other words, the enzyme removes the histone proteins which are intertwined with the DNA.
- Dissolve RNA with ribonuclease
- Use lipase to dissolve lipids.
- Add chilled ethanol to enable the precipitation of the DNA. It essentially increases DNA concentration.
- Use spooling to extract the precipitated DNA. Spooling involves winding the fine threads of DNA on to a reel.
Observation
The DNA appears as white precipitates of fine thread on the spool.