A Simple and Affordable Method of DNA Extraction from Fish Scales for Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

Most fish studies today are performed at the molecular level, which needs reliable, quick, and cost-effective DNA extraction protocols (Liu et al. 2009; Ming et al. 2010; Shen et al. 2010). Generally, the most widely used materials for DNA extraction in fish are fins or red blood cell samples (Yang et al. 2001; Liu et al. 2009; Zhang et al. 2009; Li et al. 2009). As fins are used by fish in locomotion, their removal would adversely impact survival of sampled fish. Similarly, collection of samples of enough red blood for DNA extraction from small fish would require them to be cultured further, and this would also be difficult for the researcher. Thus, simpler methods of sample collection are needed for DNA extraction. Since collection of fish scale samples is easy and noninvasive (Kumar et al. 2007), there is a need for a simple, rapid, and affordable method of DNA extraction from them. Based on a literature search, only five papers have described methods of DNA isolation from fish scales (Estoup et al. 1996; Nelson et al. 1998; Adcock et al. 2000; Yue and Orban 2001; Kumar et al. 2007). The method described by Nelson et al. (1998) is relatively complicated for DNA isolation from a large number of individuals. Adcock et al. (2000) successfully isolated DNA from old dried scales by the traditional phenol–chloroform procedure. Yue and Orban (2001) found that