| Extracting nucleic acids from plant and animal tissues often requires both pulverizing and macerating the tissue as a first step. This both disrupts cell walls and increases the surface area of the tissue. Historically this was often done one sample at a time, by hand, in a mortar and pestle. If the sample was unusually difficult to grind, or if it was necessary to recover RNA as well as DNA, liquid nitrogen could be used as a coolant. Needless to say, hand milling is labor intensive and requires some finesse on the part of the technician.
SPEX SamplePrep, LLC. makes several specialized laboratory mills for tissue disruption and pulverizing. The high-throughput 2000 Geno/Grinder is a dedicated mill for extracting DNA from plant tissue, 192 samples at a time. Milling is done in two deep-well, 96-well titer plates, with each containing plant tissue, 1 ml of buffer and a 5/32” (4 mm) stainless steel ball. The plates are sealed, clamped in place, and shaken vertically at mill speeds up to 1600 strokes per minute. Typical milling times are one to two minutes. Then the plates are spun in a centrifuge for a short period of time to clean droplets off the seal, and drive the solids to the bottom of the wells. The Geno/Grinder can also be used for lysing bacteria and other applications. The 2600 Cryo-Station and 2650 Cryo-Block are also available to help you recover RNA from plant samples.
SPEX SamplePrep, LLC. Freezer/Mills require liquid nitrogen as a coolant, and can be used to grind any plant or animal tissue. Roots, stems, fresh bone, cartilage, muscle, hair, and other tough samples not suited to the Geno/Grinder are rapidly pulverized in the Freezer/Mills, at temperatures which preserve RNA. The 6750 Freezer/Mill can be used for samples from a few milligrams to 5 grams. The larger 6850 Freezer/Mill can grind four such samples at a time, or one sample of as much as 100 grams.
SPEX SamplePrep, LLC. mills give you that critical “edge” in extracting DNA and RNA from all plant and animal tissues. Call our Sales Specialists to discuss your application or arrange for sample grinding at our location or yours: (800) 522-7739 X 465.
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