Abstract
An experimental protocol originally designed to isolate plant DNA was modified to obtain high quality total RNA from organs of adult coconut palms collected in situ. With this protocol, high quality RNA was extracted from leaves, inflorescences, primary and secondary roots, zygotic embryos and solid endosperm, with no carbohydrate or protein contamination. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification of a 470 bp cDNA, corresponding to a highly conserved domain of the eukaryotic mitogen-activated protein kinases, demonstrated the integrity of the RNA samples. Isolation of intact RNA from coconut palms growing under wild conditions facilitates the study of gene regulation ex vivo.
Key words: Coconut palms, RNA extraction, secondary metabolites.
Abbreviation
CTAB, Cethyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide; PVP, polyvinylpyrrolidone; FL, flag leaf; IF, immature inflorescence; SR, secondary root; ZE, zygotic embryo; SE, solid endosperm, MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase.
