DNA extraction from fish.

[John Alsobrook]

In <1992Jul12.172008.23215 at usenet.ins.cwru.edu> ccy at po.CWRU.Edu writes:

> 
> In a previous article, walterh at U.WASHINGTON.EDU (Walter Hill) says:
> 
> >We've been trying to get DNA out of Fish (most Salmon and mostly muscle
> >but some liver, too) and have had seemingly miserable success.  We've
> >tried almost everything from the old proteinase-phenol-chloroform routine
> >to commercial kits such as A.S.A.P. and the like.  Tried disrupting tissue
> >with freeze-thawing and homogenizing, etc.
> 
> How about freezing a piece of fish in liquid nitrogen, then pounding the
> frozen specimen in a stainless steel mortar and pestle.  The fine powder
> should be readily digested using proteinase K.  The liberated DNA can be 
> cleaned up as usual and alcohol precipitated.  I don't have experience
> with this, but I'm optimistic it would work.

The liquid N2 / mortar-pestle approach works well for RNA isolation from
various fish organs; it should be great for DNA as well.

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