Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) 3 articles published in JoVE Biochemistry Obtaining High-Quality Transcriptome Data from Cereal Seeds by a Modified Method for Gene Expression Profiling Vito M. Butardo Jr.1, Christiane Seiler2, Nese Sreenivasulu3, Markus Kuhlmann2 1Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Swinburne University of Technology, 2Department of Molecular Genetics, Heterosis Research Group, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), 3Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, Applied Functional Genomics Cluster, International Rice Research Institute A method for transcriptome profiling of cereals is presented. The microarray-based gene expression profiling starts with the isolation of high-quality total RNA from cereal grains and continues with the generation of cDNA. After cRNA labelling and microarray hybridization, recommendations are given for signal detection and quality control. Genetics Assessment of DNA Contamination in RNA Samples Based on Ribosomal DNA Seyyed Hamidreza Hashemipetroudi1, Ghorbanali Nematzadeh1, Gholamreza Ahmadian2, Ahad Yamchi3, Markus Kuhlmann4 1Genetic and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabarestan (GABIT), Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University (SANRU), 2Department of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetics Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), 3Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, 4RG Abiotic Stress Genomics/ RG Heterosis, Department Molecular Genetics, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Here, we present a protocol for tracing genomic DNA (gDNA) contamination in RNA samples. The presented method utilizes primers specific for the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) genes. The method is suited for reliable and sensitive detection of DNA contamination in most eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Biology A Fast Air-dry Dropping Chromosome Preparation Method Suitable for FISH in Plants Lala Aliyeva-Schnorr1, Lu Ma1,2, Andreas Houben1 1Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), 2School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London A protocol is described for the preparation of high-quality mitotic plant chromosome spreads by a fast air-dry dropping method suitable for the FISH detection of single and high copy DNA probes.