Evaluation of Two New Methods for DNA Extraction of "Legal High" Plant Species.

A quick, simple, and high‐yield nucleic acid isolation process is crucial for high‐quality DNA analysis. The ability of the MicroGEM PDQeX phytoGEM system and Omega Bio‐tek E.Z.N.A.® Plant DS Mini kit to extract PCR‐ready DNA was evaluated by extracting the forensically relevant "legal high" plant species: Ipomoea purpurea, Artemisia absinthium, Mitragyna speciosa, Datura stramonium, and Papaver somniferum. The plant material was pulverized, processed using the manufacturer's plant protocol for the PDQeX Nucleic Acid Extraction or the manufacturer's protocol for the Omega extraction, quantified using the Invitrogen Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer, and analyzed for amplifiability by PCR using a Qiagen Rotor‐Gene Q instrument and published assays. The DNA amplicons for the legal high species produced high‐resolution melt curves concordant with the melts observed when DNA was isolated using the Qiagen DNeasy Plant Mini Kit in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]