A widely applicable protocol for DNA isolation from fecal samples
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Guided Protocol for Fecal Microbial Characterization by 16S rRNA-Amplicon Sequencing
Published on: March 19, 2018
Bao-Wei Zhang1, Ming Li, Li-Chao Ma
1Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 25 Beisihuan Xilu, Haidian, Beijing, PR China.
Abstract:
Feces are increasingly used as sources of DNA for genetic and ecological research. This paper describes a new method for isolation of DNA from animal feces. This method combines multiple purification steps, including pretreatment with ethanol and TE, an inhibitor-absorber made of starch, the CTAB method, the phenol-chloroform extraction method, and the guanidinium thiocyanate-silica method. The new method is efficient according to PCR results of 585 fecal samples from 23 species and costs much less than the commercial kits. The protocol can be tailored to the specific purpose of examining different diets of animals and can be performed with routine laboratory reagents.
Related Concept Videos
01:24DNA Isolation
01:34DNA Isolation
02:35DNA Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
Gel extraction follows five major steps: running gel electrophoresis to separate fragments, isolating the individual bands, extracting DNA from those bands, and removing the dye and salts from the extracted mixture to obtain pure DNA.
In cloning experiments, both the insert and vector DNA...