Comparison of different total RNA isolation methods for four Ficus species

Using Trizol,SDS-LiCl and improved CTAB methods,total RNA were isolated from four Ficus species that they are F. hispida,F.racemosa,F. altissima and F. oligadon.Via OD value and Gel electrophoresis test,the results showed that Trizol method is applicable for total RNA isolation only for F. hispida in the four species,while the SDS-LiCl method failed to extract total RNA from F. oligadon and the yield and the quality for the other three species were low,the improved CTAB method can isolate high quality total RNA from all the four species,and further Northern blot analysis testified the integrality of RNA isolatied by the improved CTAB method.It was also found that the improved CTAB method could get high quality total DNA during RNA isolation.In all,the improved CTAB method is simple,economical and suitable for isolating total RNA from the Ficus species.