RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 33 (1) March 2021, p. 12-20

A RAPID AND EFFICIENT DNA EXTRACTION PROTOCOL FOR Ganoderma zonatum, A BASAL AND UPPER STEM ROT PATHOGEN OF OIL PALM IN MALAYSIA

JAYANTHI NAGAPPAN*; FAIZUN KADRI*; CHIN CHIEW FOAN**; RICHARD M COOPER‡‡; SEAN T MAY‡; IDRIS ABU SEMAN* and ENG TI LESLIE LOW*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2020.0058
Received: 8 November 2019   Accepted: 11 March 2020   Published Online: 11 September 2020
ABSTRACT

Ganoderma zonatum (G. zonatum) is associated with both the basal and upper stem rot diseases in oil palm. Despite the severity of these diseases, there is only limited information on the molecular characteristics of this oil palm pathogen. Most of the studies on G. zonatum related to oil palm are focused on the epidemiology and genetic diversity of the organism. In other palm species, G. zonatum has also been identified as the causal agent of bud rot disease. To further characterize the organism using molecular techniques, the ability to isolate good quality DNA samples is important. In this study, seven DNA extraction protocols were evaluated and the best protocol, Boehm protocol, had the highest yield of good quality DNA. The protocol was able to yield 208.95 ± 4.52 μg DNA per gram of sample with purities above 1.80 for A260/280 and 2.0 for A260/230. This extraction protocol is a rapid and efficient protocol that employs cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), β-mercaptoethanol and Proteinase K in the lysis buffer. The Boehm protocol was further tested on three other Ganoderma species found in the oil palm plantations and a medicinal fungus, G. lucidum. It was noted that the protocol was efficient, with high yields for G. zonatum when compared to the other four species. This is probably due to the fact that extraction protocols for each organism requires specific optimization to obtain optimal yield and purity. In conclusion, the Boehm protocol was best suited for genomic DNA extraction of G. zonatum and found suitable for downstream applications such as PacBio sequencing

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6, Persiaran Institusi,
Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang,
Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: lowengti@mpob.gov.my

** School of Biosciences,
Faculty of Science,
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus,
Jalan Broga,
43500 Semenyih,
Selangor, Malaysia.

‡ Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre,
Division of Plant and Crop Sciences,
School of Biosciences,
University of Nottingham,
Loughborough, United Kingdom.

‡ ‡ Department of Biology and Biochemistry,
University of Bath,
Bath BA2 7AY,
United Kingdom.