Laboratory protocol for manual purification of DNA from 0.5 mLof Performagene™ sample
The following step-by-step protocol describes how to purify DNA from a 0.5 mL aliquot of a sample that has
been collected and preserved in Performagene chemistry with the PG-100 collection kit. Reagents required
for manual purification are available with PG-AC1 reagent package or PG-AC4 reagent package.
When a DNA sample is collected and mixed with the Performagene solution, the DNA is immediately stabilized.
Performagene samples are stable at room temperature for 1 year from the time of collection. If it is yourlaboratory practice to bank DNA samples, Performagene samples can be stored indefinitely at -15°C to -20°C,
and can undergo multiple freeze-thaw cycles without deterioration of the DNA.

Equipment and reagents•••••••

Microcentrifuge capable of running at 15,000 × g
Air or water incubator at 50°C (Note: The false bottom tube will float in a water incubator,
therefore an air incubator may be preferred.)
Ethanol (95% to 100%) at room temperature
DNA buffer: TE (10 mM Tris-HCl, 1mM EDTA, pH 8.0) or similar solution(Optional) Glycogen (20 mg/mL) (e.g., Invitrogen Cat. No. 10814-010)
Ethanol (70%) at room temperature
5M NaCl solution

Procedure
Purification steps

Notes

1. Mix the sample by shaking vigorously
for 5 seconds.

• This is to ensure that viscous samples areproperly mixed with the Performagene solution.

2. Incubate the sample in a 50°C air incubator
for a minimum of 2 hours, or in a 50°C water
incubator for a minimum of 1 hour.

• DNA in Performagene is stable at room temperatureeven without the incubation step.
• This heat-treatment step is essential to ensurethat DNA is adequately released and that
nucleases are permanently inactivated.
• This incubation step may be performed at any
time after sample is collected from the animaland before it is purified.
• Incubation of the entire sample is recommended.
• The sample may be incubated at 50°C overnight
if it is more convenient.
• A longer time is required in an air incubator
because temperature equilibration is slower
than in a water incubator.

3. (Optional) Removal of collection sponge:
Remove the cap and press the collection
sponge against the inside of the tube to
extract as much of the sample as possible.
Discard sponge and cap.

• Sponge removal is dictated by preferenceof workflow.
• Replacement caps (RC-1) are availablefor purchase.

For Animal Use Only
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For Animal Use Only

Purification steps

Notes

4. Transfer 500 µL of the mixed Performagene
sample to a 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tube.

• The remainder of the Performagene sample
can be stored at room temperature or frozen(-15°C to -20°C). Do not store in refrigerator (4°C).

5. Add 20 µL (1/25th volume) of PG-L2P purifier tothe microcentrifuge tube and mix by vortexing
for a few seconds.

• The sample will become turbid as impurities
and inhibitors are precipitated.

6. Incubate sample on ice for 10 minutes.

• Room temperature incubation can besubstituted but will be slightly less effective
in removing impurities.

7. Centrifuge at room temperature for 5 minutes
at 15,000 × g.

• A longer period of centrifugation (up to15 minutes) may be beneficial in reducing theturbidity (high A320) of the final DNA solution.

8. Carefully transfer the clear supernatant witha pipette tip into a fresh microcentrifuge tube.
Discard pellet.

• The pellet contains turbid impurities. If accidentally
disturbed, the tube should be re-centrifuged.

9. To 500 µL of supernatant, add 25 µL (1/20thvolume) of 5 M NaCl, mix.

• Addition of NaCl is necessary to ensure efficient
recovery of DNA.

10. To 500 µL of supernatant , add 600 µL of room
temperature 95% to 100% ethanol. Mix gentlyby inversion 10 times.

• During mixing with ethanol, the DNA will beprecipitated. This may appear as a clot of DNA
fibers or as a fine precipitate, depending upon
the amount of DNA in the sample.
• Even if no clot is seen, DNA will be recoveredby carefully following the next steps.

11. Allow the sample to stand at room temperature• Incubation at -20°C is not recommended because
for 10 minutes to allow the DNA to fully precipitate.
impurities may co-precipitate with the DNA.
12. Place the tube in the centrifuge in a known
orientation (DNA pellet may not be visible aftercentrifugation). Centrifuge at room temperaturefor 2 minutes at >15,000 × g.

• For example, place each tube in the microcentrifuge
with the hinge portion of the cap pointing awayfrom the centre of the rotor. After centrifugation,
the position of the pellet can be located (even if
too small to be easily visible); it will be at the tipof the tube below the hinge.

13. Carefully remove the supernatant with a pipette
tip and discard it. Take care to avoid disturbing
the DNA pellet.

• This pellet contains DNA. Loss of the pellet
will result in loss of the DNA.
• Rotating the tube such that the pellet is on
the upper wall will allow you to safely movea pipette tip along the lower wall and remove
all of the supernatant.
• The supernatant may contain impurities andshould be removed as completely as possible.
• Excessive drying of the pellet can make theDNA more difficult to dissolve.

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2For Animal Use OnlyPurification stepsNotes

14. Carefully wash the DNA by adding 250 µLof 70% ethanol. Let stand for 1 minute atroom temperature. Remove the ethanol witha pipette tip without disturbing the pellet.

• Take care not to disturb the DNA pellet.
• The DNA pellet may be small. Addition of acarrier such as glycogen at step 7 will increase
the visibility of the pellet.
• Should the pellet detach, centrifuge thesample for 5 minutes at 15,000 × g.
• The 70% ethanol wash helps to remove
residual inhibitors.

15. Centrifuge for 6 seconds to pool any remaining
ethanol, remove with a pipette tip.

• Complete removal of ethanol is essential to prevent
inhibition during downstream applications.

16. Add 100 µL of DNA buffer (e.g. TE buffer) to dissolve • Note that large amounts of high molecular weightthe DNA pellet. Vortex for at least 5 seconds.
DNA can be slow to hydrate (dissolve) completely.
Let sit at room temperature overnight to ensure• Incomplete hydration of the DNA is a cause ofcomplete rehydration of the DNA. DNA can now be
inaccuracy in estimating DNA concentration andquantified and used in downstream applications.
of failure of downstream applications such as PCR.
17. (Optional) Additional steps to ensure complete• For applications that require very high molecularhydration of the DNA.
weight DNA, (c) is recommended.
a) Additional vortexing, and/orb) Incubation at 50°C for 1 hour with occasionalvortexing, and/orc) Incubation at room temperature for 1 to 2 days
18. Options for storage of the fully rehydrated DNA:a) Recommended in TE, in aliquots at -20°C for
long-term storage, orb) In TE at 4°C for up to 2 months.

• Freezing of purified DNA in TE will cause DNA
to precipitate. When thawing a sample of frozen
purified DNA, pay careful attention to rehydration,
as discussed in step 17.

Quantification of DNA
By fluorescence method
Assays that use fluorescent dyes are more specific than absorbance at 260 nm for quantifying the amountof double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in a DNA sample. We recommend using fluorescent dyes such as PicoGreen®
or SYBR® Green I to quantify dsDNA since there is less interference by contaminating RNA, see protocol1.
Alternatively, commercially available kits such as Invitrogen’s Quant‑iT™ PicoGreen dsDNA Assay Kit(Cat. No. Q-33130) can be used. For either protocol, we recommend that the purified DNA be diluted 1:50
with TE solution and that 5 µL be used in the quantification assay.

By absorbance method
If you choose to quantify DNA by absorbance, we recommend that you first treat the purified sample with
RNase to digest contaminating RNA and then remove the RNA fragments by ethanol precipitation of the DNA.
See protocol2 for details. Please note that DNA from a Performagene sample typically contains appreciably
more RNA than found in blood samples. Ensure that alcohol-precipitated DNA is fully dissolved before reading
the absorbance.

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3For Animal Use Only

Conversion factor: An absorbance of 1.0 at 260 nm corresponds to a concentration of 50 ng/µL (50 µg/mL)
for pure dsDNA.
••

A spectrophotometer cuvette capable of reading a volume of 100 µL or less should be used to avoid using
too large a volume of sample.
Absorbance values at 260 nm should be between 0.1 and 1.5. Lower values may not be reliable. If theundiluted sample is used, care must be taken to ensure that the cuvette is very clean or that disposable cells
are used to avoid cross-contamination of samples. Absorbance values >1.5 at 260 nm are not reliable; thesample should be diluted and re-read.

Method:1. Dilute a 10 µL aliquot of purified RNase-treated DNA with 90 µL of TE (1/10 dilution). Mix by gently
pipetting up and down. Wait for bubbles to clear.
2.

Use TE in the reference (blank) cell.

3.

Measure absorbance at 320 nm, 280 nm and 260 nm.

4.

Calculate corrected A280 and A260 values by subtracting the absorbance at 320 nm (A320) fromthe A280 and A260 values.

5.

DNA concentration in ng/µL = corrected A260 × 10 (dilution factor) × 50 (conversion factor).

6.

A260/A280 ratio: Divide corrected A260 by corrected A280.

Example1.

Assume the measured A320= 0.025, A280= 0.175 and A260= 0.295

2.

The DNA concentration of the undiluted sample will be:(A260 - A320) × 10 [dilution factor] × 50 [conversion factor]= (0.295 - 0.025) × 10 × 50
= 0.270 × 10 × 50
= 135 ng/μL or 135 μg/mL

3.

The corrected A260/A280 ratio will be:(A260 - A320) ÷ (A280 - A320)= (0.296 - 0.025) ÷ (0.175 - 0.025)= 0.270 ÷ 0.150= 1.80

References
12DNA quantification of Oragene/saliva samples using SYBR Green I Dye and a micro-plate reader. DNA Genotek. PD-PR-075.
RNA removal by double-RNase digestion. DNA Genotek. PD-PR-040.

Technical support is available Monday to Friday (9h00 to 17h00 EST):•••

Toll-free (North America): 1.866.813.6354, option 6
All other countries: 613.723.5757, option 6
Email: support@dnagenotek.com™Performagene is a trademark of DNA Genotek Inc. All other brands and names contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
All DNA Genotek protocols, white papers and application notes, are available in the support section of our website at www.dnagenotek.com.

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