Materials and Reagents

1. Fresh soil or soil stored at -80 °C
   
2. RNA PowerSoil^TM Total RNA Isolation Kit (MO BIO Laboratories, catalog number: 12866-25 )
   
3. Phenol/Chloroform/Isoamyl Alcohol 25:24:1 (pH 6.7) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, catalog number: BP1752l-400 )
   
4. Diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC) (Sigma-Aldrich, catalog number: D5758-50mL )
   
5. RNase AWAY^® (VWR International, catalog number: 72830-022 )
   
6. Disposable Gloves
   
7. Ice
   
8. DEPC water (see Recipes) or nuclease-free water
   

Equipment

1. Fisher Vortex Genie 2 (VWR International, model: 12-812 )
   
2. Centrifuge (Sorvall^® SuperT21 rotor SL-50T) (for 15 ml centrifuge tubes)
   
3. Microcentrifuge (VWR International, model: Galaxy 16 )
   
4. Shaker (New Brunswick Scientific, model: G-33 )
   
5. Incubator set at 45 °C
   
6. 5 ml Borosilicated Glass pipette (VWR International, model: 53281-818 )
   
7. 1,000 μl pipetman
   
8. 200 μl pipetman
   
9. 2.5 μl pipetman
   
10. -20 °C Freezer
    
11. 4 °C Incubator
    
12. Microcentrifuge Tube Rack (VWR International, model: CBGTR-080 )
    
13. 15 ml falcon tube holder
    
14. Laboratory labeling tape (VWR International, catalog number: 89097-902 )
    
15. Spectrophotometer (e.g. Thermo Scientific, model: NanoDrop ND-1000 )
    

Procedure