Methods for the preservation of leaf sample from plants occurring in neotropical savannas were compared, with the aim to get high quality DNA for molecular studies. Different methods for DNA isolation of the same samples were also compared. The DNA quality was evaluated by two empirical methods: digestion of the DNA with three restriction enzymes and by amplification of the mitochondrial cox3 gene by PCR. The results show that, for the savanna plants investigated, the most commonly employed method for plant sample preservation (quick dehydratation using silica gel) is not the most efficient. Our results demonstrate the importance of testing different methods of plant tissue preservation for molecular studies to guarantee high quality DNA. For plants from neotropical savannas, the silica gel method might be often less efficient than other equally simple methods of sample preservation.
DNA isolation; molecular analysis; molecular systematics; sample preservation; tropical savanna plants
