Automated high throughput purification of genomic DNA from plant leaf or seed using MagneSil® paramagnetic particles

Three different methods of automated high throughput purification of genomic DNA from plant materials processed in 96 well plates are described. One method uses MagneSil(R) paramagnetic particles to purify DNA present in single leaf punch samples or small seed samples, using 320ul capacity 96 well plates which minimizes reagent and plate costs. A second method uses 2.2 ml and 1.2 ml capacity plates and allows the purification of larger amounts of DNA from 5-6 punches of materials or larger amounts of seeds. The third method uses the MagneSil(R) ONE purification system to purify a fixed amount of DNA, thus simplifying the processing of downstream applications by normalizing the amounts of DNA so they do not require quantitation. Protocols for the purification of a fixed yield of DNA, e.g. 1 ug, from plant leaf or seed samples using MagneSil(R) paramagnetic particles and a Beckman-Coulter BioMek(R) FX robot are described. DNA from all three methods is suitable for applications such as PCR, RAPD, STR, READIT(R) SNP analysis, and multiplexed PCR systems. The MagneSil(R) ONE system is also suitable for use with SNP detection systems such as Third Wave Technology's Invader(R) methods.