A modified and efficient method has been developed for extracting high molecular weight (HMW) DNA free of inhibitors (humic substances) from soil and sediment samples of Jammu and Kashmir region. The method includes precipitation of extracted soil and sediment DNA with 0.5 volumes of 50% polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 0.1 volumes of 1M NaCl (sodium chloride) followed by treatment with 2% CaCl2( ...

Aiming to investigate the efficacy of different materials as bio-sorbents for the purification of As-polluted waters, batch-type experiments were employed to study As(V) sorption and desorption on oak ash, pine bark, hemp waste, mussel shell, pyritic material, and soil samples, as a function of the As(V) concentration added. Pyritic material and oak ash showed high sorption (90% and >87%) and l...

Humic substances in soil DNA samples can influence the assessment of microbial diversity and community composition. Using multiple steps during or after cell lysis adds expenses, is time-consuming, and causes DNA loss. A pretreatment of soil samples and a single step DNA extraction may improve experimental results. In order to optimize a protocol for obtaining high purity DNA from soil microbio...

Extraction of high-quality mRNA from Cryptosporidium parvum is a key step in PCR detection of viable oocysts in environmental samples. Current methods for monitoring oocysts are limited to water samples; therefore, the goal of this study was to develop a rapid and sensitive procedure for Cryptosporidium detection in soil samples. The efficiencies of five RNA extraction methods were compared (mR...

Purification of extra-cellular cellulolytic enzymes from C e l l u l o mssp. strain 0, isolated from forest soil in the north of Iran , was studied by using gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. Two endo-glucanases (Endo-I & Endo-II) and one exo-glucanase (Exo-I) were purified to hornogenity . The purified enzymes had molecular weights of about 39.000,70.000 and 90.000 daltons for ...

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.9) is an unique enzyme capable of converting starch and related substrates into cyclodextrins (CDs). In this paper, we report an one step gel purification method of CGTase from Bacillus sp. and later enzyme characterization. The Bacillus sp. strain was isolated from a Colocacia esculenta rizospheric soil sample and the CGTase production was carr...

AIMS The aim of this study was to utilize a modified troughing method for purification of large genomic DNA obtained from microbiota in natural environment and for fractionation of genomic DNA into many size ranges that facilitates construction of metagenomic library. METHODS AND RESULTS Genomic DNA extracted from soil or termite gut was purified by the modified troughing method which utilize...

Characterization of humic substances (HS) in environmental samples generally involves labor-intensive and time-consuming isolation and purification procedures. In this paper, the development of an automated system for HS isolation and purification is described. The novelty of the developed system lies in the way the multiple liquids and columns used in the isolation/purification procedure are h...

Interfacing large volume samples (0.5 – 3 mL) with microfluidic devices is a significant obstacle for the processing of numerous forms of forensic casework biological evidence. This includes biological fluids collected from surfaces, clothing and compromised samples e.g., those mixed with soil. In addition, some samples are deliberately diluted, reducing the effect of inhibitors on the polymera...

The goal of this work was to compare Pressurised Liquid Extraction (PLE), which is usually used to extract drugs from soil, and a modified-QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method. Furthermore, several clean-up methods were evaluated. Selective Pressurised Liquid Extraction (SPLE) and Dispersive Solid Phase Extraction (dSPE) used after PLE and QuEChERS, respectively, wer...