Microbial Isolation

Bead beating is often required for the efficient processing of tough-to-lyse organisms and environmental samples, and the environmental DNA isolation kits from Zymo Research feature unique BashingBead technology for efficient isolation of DNA from samples otherwise refractory to conventional lysis procedures. State of the art BashingBeads are constructed of the highest quality, most dense ceramic material available today. They are used when thorough sample homogenization/lysis is required by the researcher, and DNA shearing by physical and chemical methods is minimized since the beads are fracture resistant and chemically inert, respectively. They are unique amongst the lysis matrices offered by other companies for DNA isolation from tough-to-lyse materials. The BashingBead kits from Zymo research can be effectively used for processing tough-to-lyse tissues, soil samples, feces, plants, seeds, food, arthropods, gram(+) and gram(-) bacteria, yeast, filamentous fungi, unicellular and filamentous algae, and protozoa. For processing, samples are simply transferred to the provided ZR BashingBead Lysis Tubes where samples are rapidly and efficiently lysed by bead beating in uniquely designed lysis buffers. Processing the samples can be performed using any bead mill, pulverizer, or vortex that can accommodate standard 2.0 ml, 50 ml tubes, or 96-well blocks depending on the format of the kit. Following lysis, metagenomic DNA is isolated using innovative Zymo-Spin column and plate technologies, and in cases where plant, feces, or soil samples are processed, the DNA is subsequently filtered to remove humic/fulvic acids or polyphenols that can inhibit PCR. The isolation of inhibitor-free DNA typically takes about 15 minutes. DNA isolated with these products is suitable for PCR, Next-Gen sequencing, hybridization, restriction digestion, and other enzymatic processes. Products are available in spin column Micro- (5 µg/prep), Mini- (25 µg/prep), Midi- (125 µg/prep) and 96-Well (5 µg/well) formats.