Article In Situ Dark Adaptation Enhances the Efficiency of DNA Extraction from Mature Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) Leaves, Facilitating the Identification of Partial Sequences of the 18S rRNA and Isoprene Synthase (IspS) Genes Csengele E. Barta *, Bethany Bolander, Steven R. Bilby, Jeremy H. Brown, Reid N. Brown, Alexander M. Duryee, Danielle R. Edelman, Christina E. Gray, Chandler Gossett, Amie G. Haddock, Mackenzie M. Helsel, Alyssa D. Jones, Marissa E. Klingseis, Kalif Leslie, Edward W. Miles and Rachael A. Prawitz Department of Biology, Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, Agenstein-Remington Halls, St. Joseph, MO 64507, USA;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +1-816-271-4334 Received: 28 August 2017; Accepted: 19 October 2017; Published: 24 October 2017 Abstract: Mature oak (Quercus spp.) leaves, although abundantly available during the plants’ developmental cycle, are rarely exploited as viable sources of genomic DNA. These leaves are rich in metabolites difficult to remove during standard DNA purification, interfering with downstream molecular genetics applications. The current work assessed whether in situ dark adaptation, to deplete sugar reserves and inhibit secondary metabolite synthesis could compensate for the difficulties encountered when isolating DNA from mature leaves rich in secondary metabolites.