In the previous article, we explained the precautions for extracting biofilms and biomats. These materials differ from the general environmental samples in that they require special chemical means to degrade the extracellular polymer (EPS) to release the cells therein and further lyse.

At the 13th International Exhibition of Western Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME) in Western Australia, the most questions asked by scientists are: What is the difference between PowerSoil and the latest PowerBiofilm DNA Kit? The readers will be introduced below about the similarities and differences between these two targeted innovations.

1, grinding beads casing

The Power Biofilm Kit uses a new beaded bead with a glass bead and garnet beads. The combination of two kinds of grinding beads has been proved to be effective in cracking various biofilms and biomats of different hardness, water content and composition.

Both the PowerSoil Kit and the PowerLyzer PowerSoil Kit contain only one type of bead in the bead casing. MoBio's original PowerSoil DNA Isolation Kit has been pre-filled with a grinding homogenization buffer. It is more suitable to use garnet beads on the vortex than glass beads. The surface of the sharp and irregular garnet is relatively soft, and it has little damage to DNA while rapidly breaking the soil and fecal samples. When using a high speed grinder, a 0.1 mm glass bead is most suitable. Studies have found that some samples of clay and sediment properties use glass beads and garnet mixed beads to achieve the same grinding effect without the use of 0.1mm glass beads alone. So we only used a single grinding bead.

2, chemical means

The PowerBiofilm Kit uses a proprietary chemical formula for solvent polysaccharides that degrade extracellular polymers (EPS). A variety of solutions combine to enhance the force, dissolve the viscous material on the surface of the sample to improve the crushing efficiency of the grinding beads. Excessive grinding of extracellular polymers (EPS) can result in loss of DNA and RNA. By dissolving a portion before hitting the crush, a larger yield can be obtained under slightly lighter grinding conditions. The PowerSoil kit does not use this innovative dissolved EPS chemistry. Its IRT system is sufficient to completely remove the polysaccharides left in the soil by plant residues.

3. Inhibition factor removal technology (IRT)

Both PowerSoil and PowerBiofilm kits use IRT technology. Most biofilms and biomats are rich in humic acid. Therefore, the step of humic acid removal is very necessary. In order to obtain high purity soil DNA, the PowerSoil Kit must use IRT technology.

5, silica gel membrane purification technology (Silica Technology)

Both kits use silica gel membrane purification technology to recover nucleic acids after humic acid removal. The DNA that is finally dissolved in Tris buffer can be used directly in the next experiment.

6, PowerBiofilm RNA Kit

Bacterial thin film RNA has only one kit of small size. The biggest difference between the RNA Kit and the DNA Kit is that different concentrations of salt solution are used to bind the nucleic acid to the spin column. DNase treatment was also used to remove genomic DNA components prior to elution of the nucleic acid, saving time for post-processing.

The RNA content in the soil is inherently low, so in the soil RNA box, the initial amount of the sample is set at 2g. Phenol is used to enhance cell lysis. Anion exchange resin technology was used in the later stage to separate very high purity RNA. At this time, DNA and RNA coexist on the silica film, and another product 12867 can simultaneously separate the DNA of the same sample. An article in the blog post gives some tips for extracting soil RNA.

We also wrote about the use of the Powerfilm Kit. Students who are using this box, take the time to check it out.

These are the differences between the two kits. Some people have told me that they are using PowerSoil to extract biofilm samples. Of course, PowerSoil is also ideal for extracting samples with low EPS and high biomass. However, if you want to extract biofilms and biopads and want consistent yields and purity, use the PowerBiofilm Kit.