RNA Isolation - M.trossulus Gill and Phenol Gland

As part of a mussel project that Matt George has with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), I’m helping by continuing isolating RNA from a relatively large number of samples. The samples are listed/described in this GitHub Issue. Today, I isolated RNA from the following samples (the “F” indicates “foot”, “PG” indicates “phenol gland”, and “G” indicates “gill” tissues):

  • T19-G

  • T21-G

  • T23-G

  • T25-G

  • T26-G

  • T27-G

  • T29-F_PG

  • T30-F_PG

  • T31-F_PG

  • T33-F_PG

  • T34-F_PG

  • T35-F_PG

  • T36-F_PG

  • T37-F_PG

  • T38-F_PG

  • T39-F_PG

  • T40-F_PG

  • T41-F_PG

  • T29-G

  • T30-G

  • T31-G

  • T33-G

  • T34-G

  • T35-G

RNA was isolated using RNAzol RT and the Direct-zol RNA Microprep Kit (ZymoResearch), with the DNase I on-column treatment step. Foot tissues were allowed to partially thaw to allow me to unfold/unbend the foot and dissect the phenol gland (essentially the most distal end of the foot) with a new razor blade. For gill tissue, small portions of frozen gill tissue were removed from tubes, placed in RNAzol RT and immediately homoegnized. Forceps were rinsed in distilled H2O, soaked in 10% bleach solution for 10mins, and then rinsed in distilled H2O before re-use. All centrifugation steps were performed at 16,000g for 1.5mins. Here’s a brief overview of the process.

Tissues were homogenized in 500uL of TriReagent with “disposable” platic mortar/pestle tubes (1.5mL). After homogenization, an additional 500uL of TriReagent was added to the tube, vortexed and incubated at RT for 10mins. Insoluble debris was pelleted and supernatant was transferred to a 2.0mL tube. An equal volume (1mL) of 100% ethanol was added to this supernatant and mixed thoroughly by pipetting. Direct-zol Microprep Kit protocol was followed from here on, including on-column DNase I treatment. All samples were eluted with 100uL of H2O.

RNA was quantified using the Roberts Lab Qubit 3.0 using the Qubit RNA High Sensitivity assay.

All RNA was stored @ -80oC in Sam’s RNA Box #3.


RESULTS

Raw Qubit data (Google Sheet):

SUMMARY TABLE:

sample concentration(ng/uL) volume(uL) yield(ng)
T19-G 79.6 100 7960
T21-G 69.4 100 6940
T23-G 108 100 10800
T25-G 46 100 4600
T26-G 168 100 16800
T27-G 130 100 13000
T29-F_PG 89 100 8900
T30-F_PG 46.2 100 4620
T31-F_PG 74.2 100 7420
T33-F_PG 63.2 100 6320
T34-F_PG 97 100 9700
T35-F_PG 30.4 100 3040
T36-F_PG 37 100 3700
T37-F_PG 62.6 100 6260
T38-F_PG 84.2 100 8420
T39-F_PG 68.4 100 6840
T40-F_PG 35 100 3500
T41-F_PG 47.4 100 4740
T29-G 86 100 8600
T30-G 83 200 16600
T31-G 99 200 19800
T33-G 87.8 100 8780
T34-G 104 100 10400
T35-G 130 100 13000