Algae project, need advice please.

[Amy Caudy]

On Tue, 29 Nov 1994, Richard Dana wrote:

> I am working on purification of DNA and RNA from single celled algae.
> I would appreciate any help that I can get.
> I did a phenol/chloroform/detergent method today but woulf like to know
> what others have done.
> 
> I work for a company  in San Diego.
> 
> 
> Richard Dana
> 1070 Joshua Way
> Vista, CA 92083
> 
> e-mail  ggreen at electriciti.com
> 
> 
	I've never worked with algae, but I was trying a tricky gram+
bacterium for DNA analysis.  I tried potassium acetate/detergent and
couldn't find any DNA.  It was in the precipitate, of course.  It was
messy and yucky, but I dissolved the pellet in H20 and overlaid with
isopropanol.  Then, I removed the DNA at the interface, allowed to
reprecipitate, removed DNA (and other junk of course), reprecipitate, etc.
 Then I did RNAse, phenyl-chloroform, etc.  It seemed to work well,
although the DNA removal at the interface was a pain.  (Brief stints in a
-80 degrees C helped speed precipitation.)  
	Have you tried proteinase K?  I don't know whether it would work
on algae.  The protocol is in the Gibco BRL manual for PCR, I think.
	Good luck.