Effects of Drying Methods, Tissue Types and Grinding Methods on Plant DNA Quality

Year 2025, Volume: 84 Issue: 1, 103 - 113, 05.06.2025

Hüseyin Onur Tuncay , Fatma Selin Uzun

https://doi.org/10.26650/EurJBiol.2025.1655054

Abstract

Objective: This study systematically evaluated how different drying methods affect DNA quality in herbarium specimens, with a specific focus on the interaction between drying techniques, tissue types, and grinding methods.

Materials and Methods: DNA concentrations and purity were evaluated for three tissue types (leaf, flower, fruit), three drying methods (filter paper, newspaper, silica gel), and two grinding techniques (homoge7 nizer, manual).

Results: The drying method significantly influenced DNA quality, with frequently changed filter paper consistently yielding the highest DNA concentration (23.26727.72 ng/µL) and purity (1.7871.90) across all tissues. Silica gel provided comparable results, offering a practical alternative when frequent material replacement is unfeasible. Tissue7specific responses were observed, with leaf tissue showing greater sensitivity to suboptimal drying conditions (concentration reduction of up to 84% with never7changed newspaper) compared to reproductive tissues. Principal component analysis captured 100% of the data variance (PC1: 89.30%, PC2: 10.70%), confirming distinct clustering patterns based on drying method and tissue type. A significant positive correlation between DNA concentration and purity (r = 0.79, p < 0.001) was observed overall, though this relationship varied according to tissue type. Grinding method effects were tissue7dependent, with homogenization generally improving DNA recovery, except in poorly dried leaf tissue.

Conclusion: These findings provide practical recommendations for optimizing preservation protocols according to target tissues, significantly enhancing the utility of herbarium specimens for long7term molecular research applications.

Keywords

Plant DNA quality , Herbarium specimens , Drying methods , Tissue types , Grinding techniques , DNA concentration , DNA purity

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval is not required for the study.

Supporting Institution

Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul University

Project Number

39618

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