REE bound DNA in natural plant

The binding of rare earth elements ( REEs) with nucleic acids in the leaves of fern Dicranopteris di-chotoma (DD) has been studied by molecular activation analysis (MAA) . The REEs bound DNA (REE-DNA) was obtained from the leaves of DD. The CTAB-based procedure was modified for extraction of total DNA. The purity of DNA was examined by UV spectroscopy. The DNA obtained was separated and determined by agarose gel electrophoresis further. Meanwhile, the contents of eight rare earth elements (La,Ce, Nd,Sm,Eu,Tb, Yb and Lu) in REE-DNA were detected by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) . The results showed that REE-DNA with higher purity could be extracted from plant using this method. It was also found that REEs were bound firmly with DNA in the leaves of DD. The molecular weight (MW) of REE-DNA band was about 22 kb in agarose gel electrophoresis.