Isolation of DNA from Mucilage-Rich Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) for PCR Analysis

Marker-assisted selection greatly increases the efficiency and effectiveness for breeding compared to conventional breeding, but often limiting step in marker-assisted breeding is the efficient isolation of plant DNA for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. While there are many protocols for plant DNA isolation, they tend to be time consuming or difficult to use on many samples simultaneously. Inthepresent study we have optimized an alternative approachto okra plant DNA isolation and developed the protocol for high purity DNA isolation from the fresh leaves of okra and PCR analysis for resultant DNA. Okra is quite difficult to work because of highly acidic polysaccharides and polyphenols present in whole plant, mainly in leaves & fruits. A standard protocol of Doyle and Doyle, 1987 was reviewed and modified for DNA extraction from Okra tissues.