How to Isolate Bacterial mRNA

Ribonucleic acid or RNA is a key genetic component of cells, and is frequently extracted and used by scientists undertaking complex genetics experiments. This process is called RNA isolation. A special type of RNA, mRNA represents 1 to 5 percent of the total RNA of a cell, and is particularly useful to scientists. Until recently it had not been possible to efficiently isolate the mRNA of prokaryotic organisms like bacteria because of the binding technology that was used. But recent technological advances have produced lab kits enabling the high-yield isolation of bacterial mRNA.

Things You'll Need

• Fully equipped genetics lab
• Bacterial mRNA Isolation Kit (MICROBExpress:Bacterial mRNA Isolation Kit, for example)

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Instructions

Bacterial Cell Disruption and mRNA Isolation

• 1

  Choose the most appropriate method to disrupt the bacterial cells you are isolating mRNA from. The best method depends on the cells; for example, if they are hard you probably want to grind the cell material very finely to break down all cell walls. Sonic or shaking methods work well for liquids or semi-solid tissues.

• 2

  Place the disrupted cell material in contact with a denaturing solution immediately to begin the breakdown and removal of genetic material. Time is of the essence here as genetic materials like DNA and RNA decay rapidly. Some types of denaturing solutions work best with different cell materials, and there are some denaturing solutions specifically designed to prevent degradation of genetic material so you have longer to perform the isolation.

• 3

  Use the bacterial mRNA isolation kit to isolate the mRNA in your sample. With most kits this is a pretty simple, user-friendly process, and a few hours later you have a sample of bacterial mRNA ready for use in identification or further experiments.