Silica gel: An ideal material for field preservation of leaf samples for DNA studies

TLDR

Silica gel is an inexpensive, reliable preservative for field‑collected leaves used in DNA variation studies. The authors describe a method for using silica gel to preserve leaves, extracting total cellular DNA from fresh and silica‑gel dried samples of the same species. They find that DNA extracted from silica‑gel preserved leaves shows comparable restriction enzyme efficiency and intactness to fresh samples. Chase & Hills (1991) published “Silica gel: An ideal material for field preservation of leaf samples for DNA studies” in *Taxon* 40:215–220 (ISSN 0040‑0262).

Abstract

Summary Chase, M. W. & Hills, H. H.: Silica gel: An ideal material for field preservation of leaf samples for DNA studies. ‐ Taxon 40: 215–220. 1991. ‐ ISSN 0040‐0262. Silica gels an inexpensive and reliable substance to preserve field‐collected leaves for molecular studies of variation in DNA. A method for its utilization is explained, and results are presented, comparing total cellular DNA samples extracted from a set of fresh and silica‐gel dried samples of the same species, as well as examining the efficiency of endonuclease restriction and intactness of DNA from of a set of field‐collected leaves preserved with silica gel.