1. Allow colonies to form on the S. pombe transformation plate (4–5 days after plating). Collect the cells by gentle scraping of the plate in 1 ml sterile water using a glass spreader. Transfer cells to a microfuge tube and concentrate by a brief centrifugation. |
2. Resuspend the cell pellet in an equal volume of Smash and Grab buffer (1% SDS; 2% Triton X-100; 100 mM NaCl; 10mM Tris, pH 8.0; and 1 mM EDTA). Transfer 200 μl of cells to a new tube and add 200 μl phenol–chloroform and 300 μl acid washed glass beads. Vortex for 5 min to lyse >50% of the cells as determined by microscopy. |
3. Pellet cell debris by microfugation for 5 min. Remove 50 μl of the top (aqueous) layer to a new microfuge tube. Avoid material close to the interface that may be contaminated with phenol–chloroform. |
4. Add 50 μl isopropanol, precipitate on ice for 10 min, and pellet DNA by microfugation for 10 min. Remove the liquid and allow pellet to air-dry. Resuspend in 5 μl sterile water. |
5. Transform electroporation-competent E. coli strain XL1-Blue (Stratagene) with 1 μl DNA according to manufacturer's instructions (in a slight modification we use 10 μl competent cells in 89 μl sterile water for electroporation and plate the entire transformation onto a single LB Amp plate). |