Combination of direct boiling and glass beads increases the purity and accuracy of bacterial DNA extraction

Extraction of DNA is a key step in molecular biology experiments and important for counting tiny microbial individuals. Direct boiling and mechanical cell lysis like glass beads are two independent physical extraction methods, thus crossing the barriers of thresholds of magnitude in popular reagent kits or traditional spread plate method when non-equilibrium phenomenon is ongoing. The two approaches above were combined to generate a new one. In three typical microbial species, direct boiling with glass beads significantly increased the purity of DNA solution compared with some other methods (p < 0.05). The qPCR results of them were closer to direct microscopy counting than some other methods. Therefore, it provides a new choice in extracting bacterial DNA for specific circumstances.

Automated summary

Extraction of DNA is crucial for molecular biology experiments and counting microbial individuals. Direct boiling and mechanical lysis with glass beads are two physical extraction methods that overcome limitations of popular reagent kits or traditional spread plate method during non-equilibrium phenomenon. Combining these methods resulted in increased DNA purity and qPCR results closer to direct microscopy counting, providing a new choice for extracting bacterial DNA in specific circumstances.