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.