Rapid isolation of genomic DNA from Blumeria graminis F. SP. tritici, the cause of wheat powdery mildew, using CTAB method

Isolation of good quality DNA is a prerequisite for any kind of genomics work. The present study reports a fast and reliable method for quality DNA extraction from the fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), the cause of powdery mildew of wheat, for use in molecular studies. DNA was isolated directly from fungal spores using cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method. Very good quality DNA was obtained, the quantity of which ranged from 150-200ng/μl, sufficient for use in various molecular techniques. There was no contamination of proteins, phenols or phenolate ions. Restriction analysis showed an extensive smear with both tetracutter and hexacutter restriction enzymes indicating fine quality of DNA suitable for cloning. PCR analysis using SSR markers also confirmed the high quality of DNA. This method of DNA isolation from Bgt spores is simple, rapid and efficient for extraction of large number of samples in short period of time which will prove very useful for high throughput studies.