Testing protocols to optimize DNA extraction from tough leaf tissue: A case study in .

Premise: Plants with stiff, leathery leaves pose a challenge for standard DNA extraction protocols. These tissues are recalcitrant to mechanical disruption via TissueLyser (or analogous devices) and are often high in secondary metabolites. These compounding factors result in low yields, which may be sufficient for PCR amplification but are generally inadequate for genomic applications that require large quantities of high-quality DNA.