Plant biology research helps our understanding behind complex mechanisms of plant growth, development, and response to environmental conditions. It touches various aspects from molecular biology, genetics, and ecology through applicable areas in agricultural production, GM crop research, and natural extracts for pharmaceuticals or cosmetics. Within sample preparation for genetic or genotypic analysis, raw sample homogenization is a critical first step to nucleic acid extraction. Bead milling facilitates the disruption and homogenization of various tough plant materials and easily scales for labs looking for high-throughput solutions. In our study, the Omni Bead Ruptor bead mill homogenizer was used to homogenize and extract DNA from frozen spinach leaves and okra pods. Both sample types – soft and fibrous plant tissue – were sufficiently homogenized in a one minute cycle at 4 m/s to take into DNA extraction, resulting in quantities of gDNA cleanly visible by 1D gel electrophoresis, and indicative of high DNA integrity suitable for downstream genomic applications.

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.