DNA Extraction Laboratory Exercise

Name:___________________________________ Period:_______
We will participate in a laboratory exercise in which you will attempt to extract DNA from
several different organisms. Even though DNA is found in virtually every cell a living organism,
it can be difficult to extract from cells.
You are to read the following background information and instructions before you conduct
your our laboratory exercise:
Strawberries
echnically, strawberries aren!t berries at all. hey!re "aggregate fruits"# they form
from a flower that has many ovaries.
o explain# the ovary is the part of a flower that ripens into a fruit. While some flowers
have one ovary, other flowers, li$e the strawberry flower, have many.When a strawberry
flower is pollinated %by bees and their friends&, the ovaries swell and form what!s called the
fleshy receptable '' the red, (uicy part you eat. %he tiny "seeds" on the outside are actually
called achenes. )nside each achene is a seed. he green leafy crown at the top is the calyx.&
Since an aggregate fruit forms from more than one ovary, it!s called a complex fruit.
*aspberries %aggregate fruit&, blac$berries %ditto& and mulberries %multiple fruit& are also
complex fruits.
rue berries, on the other hand, are a type of simple fruit# they form from a flower
that has (ust one ovary. he inside of a berry is soft and mushy and usually has more than one
seed. +rapes, tomatoes and cranberries are berries. So are bananas,
Some species of strawberry are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes %-.
chromosomes total&. /thers are tetraploid %four sets, 01 chromosomes total&, hexaploid %six
sets, .0 chromosomes total&, octoploid %eight sets, 23 chromosomes total&, or decaploid %ten
sets, 45 chromosomes total&.
*ipe strawberries produce large amounts of pectinases and cellulases which function by
brea$ing down components in the cell wall %pectin and cellulose&. his may explain the relative
softness of ripe fruit in relation to unripe fruits. %from# http#66extension.osu.edu&
7ananas
he term banana is applied to both the plant and its elongated fruit. he 7anana itself
is from the berry family. A berry is a simple fruit having a s$in surrounding one or more seeds
in a fleshy pulp. 7ananas can be either Diploid or riploid %.. or 33 chromosomes&. he little
blac$ dots in commercial bananas are abortive seeds that did not fully develop. A diploid
banana is smaller and contains many large hard seeds about the si8e of coffee beans.
7ananas have 00 chromosomes per haploid set.
%9rom# http#66seattlecentral.edu6faculty6mboyle67)/-5-6:ab
;05Exercises67)/-5-<lab<-..pdf.&
=re'lab >uestions
Some of the following questions can be found in your science boo! the bacground information for this lab!
while others you may ha"e to loo u# in a dictionary $or e"en the internet%&
'& (hat is the im#ortance of DNA) $*n other words! what role does DNA #lay in life)%
+& (here is DNA found in Euaryotic organisms)
,& Name the four -ase Pairs .ound in DNA&
/& 0ells contain four "ery im#ortant 1rganic 0om#ounds& Name them:
2& 0ell membranes are made u# by three of the four com#ounds named in question 3/& (hich of the four
maes u# most the cell and nuclear membrane)
4& DNA is a long thread that is wra##ed around a grou# of organic com#ounds that #rotects and organi5es the
DNA and results in the formation of 0hromatin& (hat is this organic com#ound the DNA is
wra##ed around)
6& DNA is called a double helix because it is made u# of two strands& 7he strands are 8oined together by
certain nucleotides #airing9u#& (hich bases can #air u# with each other)
:& *f humans ha"e a di#loid number of /4! what is the ha#loid number and the tri#loid number for humans)
.or the two following questions! you may ha"e to use a dictionary or the internet to answer&
;& (hat does <Extraction= mean)
'>& (hat does <Solubility= mean)
''& (hat does <*nterface= mean $in relation to two liquids%)
:ab )nstructions for Extraction of DNA.
1. a$e one of the plastic bags on your lab tray and find the mass and record it on
your lab sheet %to be given out in class the day of the lab&.
2. =lace one of the substances %7anana or Strawberry& into the bag and find it?s mass
and record it on your lab sheet.
3. *epeat for the remaining substance.
4. Add about 3 ml of the salt solution %3; Na@l& to each bag, and seal the bags.
5. Aash'up the substances real well, try to brea$ up any large chun$s, ma$e sure that
you ma$e a BmushC of the materials %li$e baby food&.
6. @arefully open up the bags and add about - ml of the detergent solution to each bag.
Seal the bags and !"#$Y mix the BmushC with the detergent. %&oid
'roducing bubbles or foam.
(. %dd )1 g of meat tenderi*er and gently mix.
+. @arefully hold the baggie by one of the upper corners so that the BmushC
accumulates in a corner of the baggie. @arefully pour or tric$le down about
-5'05 ml of alcohol down a side crease of the baggie. he alcohol should
form a layer on the top.
,. /bserved any materials that appear at the interface and then ma$e a s$etch of the
bag.
1-. Dery carefully, try to spool the material on a rod %plastic, glass, or wooden&.
11. Aa$e a s$etch of the spooled material.
12. a$e each of the spooled material and place it onto a piece of filter paper
%side by side&. Which substance yielded the most DNAE
:ab modified from BDNA Extractions F A Starting =oint for 7iochemical )nGuiryC, by Haren E. Halumuc$.
Exploratorium eacher )nstitute.
Data able and /bservation
(eight of Plastic
-ag
(eight of Plastic
-ag ? Strawberry
(eight of
Strawberry
(eight of Plastic
-ag
(eight of Plastic
-ag ?
_____________
(eight of
_____________
Setch of bag with strawberry sam#le after the addition
of alcohol&
Setch of bag with ___________sam#le after the addition of
alcohol&
=ost :ab >uestions
-. Which of the two %strawberry or banana& did you ex'ect to yield more DNAE Iow did you
come up with this predictionE
0. Which of the two %strawberry or banana& actually yielded the most amount of DNAE Why do
you thin$ that occurredE
J. Aeat tenderi8ers contain one of two en8ymes# 7romelain and =apain. 7romelain is a mixture
of protein'digesting %called 'roteolytic& en8ymes found in pineapples. =apain is also a
proteolytic en8yme, but instead of being found in pineapples, it is found in papayas. Why is
meat tenderi8er used in your lab to help you extract DNAE
.. Soap is a substance that is used to brea$ down lipids and ma$e them more water soluble.
Why do you thin$ we used a soap solution to help us extract DNA from our substancesE
2. After adding and mixing the soap solution with your samples, what was the purpose of
filtering the samplesE
3. Why was it important that the alcohol we used was of a high percentage %K-;& and very cold
to help us extract the DNA from our samples %what is DNA li$e in alcohol and why such a high
percentage&E