An efficient protocol for the isolation of fungal DNA for strains obtained from oil contaminated fields

Abstract

A natural ecosystem contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons is likely to favor the growth of taxonomically diverse microbes having the ability to degrade these organic compounds. They can be exploited for purposes like bioremediation of oil contaminated soils and to obtain enzymes like lipases having important industrial applications. In this paper, a novel “IBG” (Improved ‘Bust and Grab’) protocol has been reported for the isolation of fungal DNA from strains collected from oil contaminated fields. Conventional methods for DNA isolation from fungi require the use of enzymes, liquid nitrogen, glass beads etc. The method reported here circumvents the use of enzymes or glass beads and is cost effective and can be used while handling large number of samples. The DNA yield obtained by the IBG protocol is significant and of good quality. The good quality DNA isolated by IBG protocol can be used for the quick and cost effective isolation of fungal genomic DNA facilitating the genomic study of microbes obtained from oil contaminated fields.