“e-Motion” of extracellular DNA (e-DNA) in soil

This study addressed the possibility that DNA, like other organic molecules, could be transported in the soil water flow by vertical and horizontal advections. Using a soil column system, the movements of a DNA sequence not present in the soil DNA pool were monitored and quantified via real-time PCR. The target sequence, belonging to bt- maize MON810, was added at the top of unsaturated soil columns. The presence of the target sequence in the extracellular DNA fraction (eDNA) extracted from different parts of the soil columns, representative of DNA movements, demonstrated the DNA drifts in vertical and horizontal directions following, the soil water solution motions. The high yields of the target sequence extracted from soil also pointed out the efficiency of our soil e-DNA extraction method.