I am extracting DNA from leaves taken from a tree growing in the field. I was wondering how I can be sure that DNA extracted comes only from the plant and not from contaminating agents (mainly bacteria) that could stay on the leaves. Should one sterilize them in some way before extracting their DNA?
I think the best way is to wash fresh leaves with sterilize distilled water followed by 80% alcohol. Samples were divided into two- one was kept at 4C and the other was dried at 50 C.
The fresh and dried samples were subsequently processed for DAN extraction.
You can also try to perform a PCR amplification with a pair of primers specific for bacteria, for example. I guess that maybe a universal pair of primers for bacteria would work. Best!
ok for primers if I want to check after the extraction and ok for washing with water and ethanol, but @atena, I did not understand why drying the sample
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