Isolation of Nucleic Acids From Lichens

This chapter is a primer for those investigators working with lichens for whom molecular techniques are a relatively new experience, or who are having problems obtaining consistent results due to difficulties in deriving nucleic acids of sufficient purity. We will deal with some of the particular problems of nucleic acid extraction from lichens, focusing on genomic DNA isolation protocols, although we will also make some suggestions about RNA isolation. Some of the published protocols will be considered and a CTAB (Cetyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide) based protocol for lichen DNA isolation will be explained in detail.