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Xanthogenate nucleic acid isolation from cultured and environmental cyanobacteria
Author(s) -
Tillett Daniel,
Neilan Brett A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1046/j.1529-8817.2000.99079.x
Subject(s) - biology , cyanobacteria , anabaena , nucleic acid , nostoc , lyngbya , aphanizomenon , bacteria , isolation (microbiology) , microcystis , dna , rna , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , genetics
The isolation of high‐quality nucleic acids from cyanobacterial strains, in particular environmental isolates, has proven far from trivial. We present novel techniques for the extraction of high molecular weight DNA and RNA from a range of cultured and environmental cyanobacteria, including stains belonging to the genera Microcystis , Lyngbya , Pseudanabaena , Aphanizomenon , Nodularia , Anabaena , and Nostoc , based on the use of the nontoxic polysaccharide solubilizing compound xanthogenate. These methods are rapid, require no enzymatic or mechanical cell disruption, and have been used to isolate both DNA and RNA free of enzyme inhibitors or nucleases. In addition, these procedures have proven critical in the molecular analysis of bloom‐forming and other environmental cyanobacterial isolates. Finally, these techniques are of general microbiological utility for a diverse range of noncyanobacterial microorganisms, including Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria and the Archea.