Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
Extracting DNA from onion bulb cells
Safety
The normal safety precautions associated with the use of chemicals and sharps apply.
glass rod
blender
water bath set at 60 C
two 400 cm3 beakers
boiling tube
test-tube rack
funnel and coarse filter paper (or coffee
filter paper)
Pasteur pipette
knife or scalpel
microscope slide
chopping board
onion bulb (Allium sp.)
universal indicator
600 cm3 beaker containing small amount of ice
(as an ice-water bath)
3 g of sodium chloride and 10 cm3 of washing-up
liquid dissolved in 100 cm3 of distilled water
10 cm3 of 95% ethanol stored in a freezer for at
least 12 hours before use
2 cm3 of 1% pepsin
eye protection
Introduction
In this practical, you will extract some DNA from onion cells.
Procedure
1
Cut an onion bulb into small pieces and transfer them to a beaker. Add approximately 100 cm3 of
the salt and detergent mixture, and stir thoroughly.
Filter the mixture into a beaker, ensuring that the foam on the surface of the mixture does not
contaminate the filtrate.
Practical 6.1
Slowly pour 9 cm3 of ice-cold 95% ethanol down the side of the tube so that it forms a layer over
the filtrate and enzyme mixture. Leave the tube for a few minutes without disturbing it.
Using a Pasteur pipette, try to draw up some threads of the fibrous material that forms in the cold
ethanol and transfer it to a slide. These threads contain DNA from the onion cells. Add a drop of
universal indicator to confirm that it is acidic.