title: Broad application of a simple and affordable protocol for isolating plant RNA.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Standard molecular biological methods involve the analysis of gene expression in living organisms under diverse environmental and developmental conditions. One of the most direct approaches to quantify gene expression is the isolation of RNA. Most techniques used to quantify gene expression require the isolation of RNA, usually from a large number of samples. While most published protocols, including those for commercial reagents, are either labour intensive, use hazardous chemicals and/or are costly, a previously published protocol for RNA isolation in Arabidopsis thaliana yields high amounts of good quality RNA in a simple, safe and inexpensive manner.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have tested this protocol in tomato and wheat leaves, as well as in Arabidopsis leaves, and compared the resulting RNA to that obtained using a commercial phenol-based reagent. Our results demonstrate that this protocol is applicable to other plant species, including monocots, and offers yield and purity at least comparable to those provided by commercial phenol-based reagents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Here, we show that this previously published RNA isolation protocol can be easily extended to other plant species without further modification. Due to its simplicity and the use of inexpensive reagents, this protocol is accessible and affordable and can be easily implemented to work on different plant species in laboratories worldwide.
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom. daniel.couto@tsl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Couto
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom. lena.stransfeld@tsl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stransfeld
authors.affiliation: National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA), Estación Experimental INIA Salto Grande, Salto, CP50000, Uruguay. aarruabarrena@inia.org.uy.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arruabarrena
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom. cyril.zipfel@tsl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zipfel
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom. lozano-duran@sibs.ac.cn.|Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology (PSC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201602, China. lozano-duran@sibs.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lozano-Durán
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000737:chemistry; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D006146:Guanidines / Q000737:chemistry; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000191:economics*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D006146:Guanidines; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D010636:Phenols; D018749:RNA, Plant; C411644:trizol