An improved RNA isolation method for plant tissues containing high levels of phenolic compounds or carbohydrates

Difficulties extracting high-quality RNA from recalcitrant plant tissues are often due to high levels of phenolics, carbohydrates, or other compounds that bind and/or co-precipitate with RNA. We describe here a method using soluble polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ethanol precipitation, which has been successful in several recalcitrant systems where other specialized RNA extraction methods failed to deliver suitable product. Using this method, RNA capable of reverse-transcription/PCR amplification and cDNA library construction was isolated from ripening grape berries, dry seeds of Albizia procera and radish, and leaf tissue of A. procera and Griffonia simplicifolia. This method is applicable to a variety of plant tissues.