The Chemistry Behind Plant DNA Isolation Protocols

Various plant species are biochemically heterogeneous in nature, a single deoxy-ribose nucleic acid (DNA) isolation protocol may not be suitable. There have been continuous modification and standardization in DNA isolation protocols. Most of the plant DNA isolation protocols used today are modified versions of hexadecyltri-methyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction procedure. Modification is usually performed in the concentration of chemicals used during the extraction procedure according to the plant species and plant part used. Thus, understanding the role of each chemical ( viz. CTAB, NaCl, PVP, ethanol, and isopropanol) used during the DNA extraction procedure will benefit to set or modify protocols for more precisions. A review of the chemicals used in the CTAB method of DNA extraction and their probable functions on the highly evolved yet complex to students and researchers has been summarized.