Improved DNA extraction on bamboo paper and cotton is tightly correlated with their crystallinity and hygroscopicity

Abstract

DNA extraction, a vital pre-requisite for most biological studies, continues to be studied extensively. According to some studies, DNA shows a certain degree of absorbability on filter paper made of plant fiber-based adsorbent material. However, the principle underlying such specific adsorption as well as plant species associated with plant fiber-based adsorbents and optimized extraction conditions have not yet been studied. This study demonstrates the tight correlation between crystallinity and hygroscopicity in plant fiber-based adsorbents used for DNA extraction and proposes the concept of DNA adsorption on plant fiber-based adsorbents, for the first time. We also explored optimal extracting and eluting conditions and developed a novel plant fiber-based DNA extraction method that was quadruple times more powerful than current approaches. Starting with the screening of various types of earthed plant fiber-based adsorbents, we went on to mine new plant fiber-based adsorbents, bamboo paper and degreased cotton, and succeeded in increasing their efficiency of DNA extraction to 4.2 times than that of current approaches. We found a very strong correlation between the crystallinity and hygroscopicity of plant fiber-based adsorbents which showed efficiency for DNA extraction, and thus propose a principle that potentially governs such specific adsorption processes, in the hope that this information may guide related multidisciplinary research studies in the future. Nanodrop, electrophoresis and PCR were selected to demonstrate the quantity, quality, integrity and utility of the extracted DNA. Furthermore, crystallinity, hygroscopicity, pore size distribution and composition of plant fiber-based adsorbents were studied to explore their correlation in an attempt to understand the principle underlying this particular type of adsorption. The findings of this study may be further extended to the extraction of other types of nucleic acids with similar biochemical properties.

The current status and trends of DNA extraction

“…New PF-BAs, bamboo paper and degreased cotton, were identified (screening from Whatman G1, G3, GF/F, wood, straw and bamboo paper, and degreased cotton) and succeeded in increasing DNA extraction efficiency 4.2-fold, on average, compared with that of current mainstream approaches. [46] These findings may be further extended to the extraction of other nucleic acids with similar biochemical properties. These novel studies show that nucleic acid extraction innovation is full of potential.…”

“…Based on these correlations, they also proposed a principle that governs such specific adsorption processes. New PF‐BAs, bamboo paper and degreased cotton, were identified (screening from Whatman G1, G3, GF/F, wood, straw and bamboo paper, and degreased cotton) and succeeded in increasing DNA extraction efficiency 4.2‐fold, on average, compared with that of current mainstream approaches [46] . These findings may be further extended to the extraction of other nucleic acids with similar biochemical properties.…”

“…[43,44] Therefore, acceptable extracted DNA is expected to have an OD260/OD280 ratio between 1.7 and 2.0 and an OD260/OD280 ratio above 2.0. [45] Ye et al compared DNA extraction performance of various commercial kits of different types (covering silica-based, magnetic based, and also liquid phase approaches) 46] (Figure 3), showing that even commercial finished products may not fulfill both purity index conditions from above. Thus, omitting purity assessment when evaluating extraction efficiency is no recommended.…”

“…The four elements, "size," "time," "cost," and "quantity" refer to the size of extracted DNA, process time, cost of the kit, and the quantity of extracted DNA). DNA extraction techniques are divided into "commercial kit" (black) [46] and "innovation approach" (blue) [46,48,49,59] where the part of "commercial kit" is further divided into "solid phase" and "liquid phase". The four elements are compared among "commercial kit" using QIAGEN kit as the standard.…”

“…Proper adjustment of the proportion of those two regions can effectively improve the efficiency of DNA extraction on PF-BA. [46]…”