Tag Archives: Direct-zol

RNA Isolation – Colleen Sea Star (Pycnopodia) Coelomycete Sample

Apparently the Bio26 sample provided on 20140428 was incorrect. Instead, the sample should have been CF26.

Samples were initially flash frozen and then stored @ -80C (no preservatives used). No visible cells/tissue in all samples, except Bio 26. Samples were homogenized in 1mL TriReagent. Used the Direct-zol RNA MiniPrep Kit (ZymoResearch) according to the manufacturer’s protocol (including on-column DNase I procedure) for the remainder of the isolation. Eluted with 50uL of 0.1%DEPC-treated H2O and spec’d on NanoDrop1000.

Samples were stored in Shellfish RNA Box #5.

Results:

Yield and quality look great. Will pass info on to Steven and Colleen for decision on which samples to sequence.

UPDATE 20140514 – Sample sent to Cornell for Illumina RNA-seq on 20140514

RNA Isolation – Colleen Sea Star (Pycnopodia) Coelomycete Samples

Isolated RNA from the following samples (provided by Colleen Burge):

  • Bio 26 (a LARGE amount of tissue/debris in this sample!)
  • CF 2
  • CF 3
  • CF 17
  • CF 34
  • CF 35
  • CF 70
  • CF 71

Samples were initially flash frozen and then stored @ -80C (no preservatives used). No visible cells/tissue in all samples, except Bio 26. Samples were homogenized in 1mL TriReagent. Used the Direct-zol RNA MiniPrep Kit (ZymoResearch) according to the manufacturer’s protocol (including on-column DNase I procedure) for the remainder of the isolation. Eluted with 50uL of 0.1%DEPC-treated H2O and spec’d on NanoDrop1000.

Samples were stored in Shellfish RNA Box #5.

Results:

Samples CF 3 and CF 17 likely have insufficient total RNA for sequencing at Cornell (200ng minimum required).

UPDATE 20140514 – CF2, CF34, CF35, CF70, CF71 sent to Cornell for Illumina RNA-seq on 20140514

RNA Clean Up – Colleen’s Sea Star Coelomycete RNA from 20140416

Zymoresearch support suggested putting the samples through another set of columns to help clean up the apparent phenol carryover that was seen (absorbance peak shifted to 270nm) in the initial isolation of these samples.

Added 500uL of TriReagent to each sample and vortexed. Then, proceeded with the remainder of the protocol (excluding the DNase step). Eluted with 50uL of 0.1% DEPC-treated H2O and spec’d on NanoDrop1000.

Results:

Absolutely horrible!! I can’t even begin to fathom what has happened here. The samples run with the sample kit all worked so well; why did this whole thing have to be jacked up with the actual samples??!!

Well, I’ll do a second elution using 50uL of 0.1%DEPC-treated H2O and spec. Let’s see if that helps….

OK, I didn’t even bother spec-ing all the samples because I noticed that the elution tubes had pellets in them! When I mix the tube prior to spec-ing (which is my normal behavior), I get the top absorbance spectra that is virtually useless. When I don’t mix the samples (thus, not disturbing the pellet), I get a more “realistic” spectra, but I can’t tell if I can trust it or not. I have contacted Zymoresearch support for more help with this…

It’s tempting to simply proceed with an EtOH precipitation, but I’m a bit concerned that the pellet in the tubes is resin from the column and that it might still bind some of the RNA. However, I guess the pellet is already in the elution solution, so the RNA should be soluble and, theoretically, not be able to bind to any residual resin…

RNA Isolation – Colleens’ Sea Star Coelomycetes Samples

Isolated RNA from the following samples stored in RNAlater:

  • TH52 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • TH54 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • CH55 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • CH56 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • CH57 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • TH65 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • TH66 3.28.14 c-fluid
  • TH67 3.28.14 c-fluid

Spun samples 5000g, 20mins @ RT to pellet any cells. Discarded supe. Resuspended cells/debris in 1mL TriReagent. Disrupted cells by pipetting and vortexting. RNA was isolated using the Direct-zol RNA Miniprep Kit (ZymoResearch). RNA was DNase treated on-column, as described in the manufacturer’s protocol, using DNase I. RNA was eluted from the columns using 25uL of nuclease-free H2O and spec’d on a NanoDrop1000.

Results:

So, this is disheartening. Overall, the RNA looks pretty crappy; poor 260/280 ratios and a general shift in absorbance to 270nm. Plus, the yields aren’t that great. Maybe RNA left on the column and/or some sort of contaminant pushing these readings out of whack?

I will perform another elution on the columns with 50uL of nuclease-free H2O and spec that elution set:

There’s still a shift in the peak absorbance in most samples to 270nm… I’m going to combine the two sets of elutions and spec:

Although the 260/280 values are significantly better, there’s still this persistent shift of peak absorbance to 270nm. I contacted technical support for the kit and they say the absorbance shift is indicative of phenol contamination. They have advised that I add a volume of TriReagent to the RNA and re-run it through a new set of columns, following the entire RNA isolation protocol.

RNA Isolation – Sea Star Coelomocytes (from Colleen)

Isolated RNA from two samples stored in RNAlater that had either no visible pellet or a minutely visible pellet:

  • Control P26
  • Filt. Inj. P8

Samples were spun 5000g, 20mins @ RT. Supe was removed, being sure to leave behind any debris that failed to pellet. Samples were homogenized in 1mL of TriReagent by pipetting/vortexing. RNA was then isolated using the Direct-zol RNA Miniprep Kit (ZymoResearch). RNA was eluted from the column with 25uL of 0.1%DEPC-treated H2O and spec’d on a NanoDrop1000.

Results:

RNA quality looks very good, as do the yields. I’m very surprised I got anything close to 1ug out of either sample!

However, it should be noted that neither of these samples has been DNased and, as such, the yields seen above may potentially include residual gDNA carryover which would artificially inflate the yields seen above. Will DNase the samples to see how yields are affected (if at all).

RNA Isolation – Sea Star Coelomocytes (provided by Colleen Burge)

Tried another method of RNA Isolation for comparison with regular TriReagent method.

Used the Direct-zol RNA MiniPrep Kit (Zymo Research) on the following samples stored in RNAlater:

  • P6 Control
  • P16 Filt. Inj.

Pelleted samples in RNAlater by spinning 5000g, 10mins @ RT. Removed RNAlater, lysed pellets in 1mL TriReagent. Split each sample equally into two tubes (500uL in each tube). Added equal volumes of 100% ethanol to each tube and vortexed. Transferred samples to spin columns and followe manufacturer’s protocol. Eluted with 25uL of nuclease-free H2O (provided in kit). Spec’d on NanoDrop1000.

Results:

RNA quality is very good (based on 260/280 ratios). This turned out much better than the previous attmpt using the basic TriReagent method. However, the previous attempt (see 20140401) may have been compromised by me being too aggressive when collecting the aqueous phase. Knowing how little sample was present, I may have been overzealous in trying to gather too much of the aqueous phase, leading to the phenol carryover that was evident.

Regardless, these columns seem to do an excellent job of eliminating even salt carryover, as we frequently see high absorbance at 230nm with marine samples; particularly those stored in RNAlater.