Table 1.

Success of RNA extraction for each method. Success is defined by the Bioanalyzer results and final quantity of pure RNA that was sequenced. Final concentration was estimated from the Bioanalyzer and the known volume of the final extraction. Some samples were extracted multiple times and pooled (i.e., “repeats”). Note that most samples were initially tried with Option 3; those that failed were then attempted with Options 1 and 2. Thus, not all samples were extracted with all options.

Method	No. of successful RNA extractions/total RNA extractions tried	% of successful RNA extractions	No. of taxa with successful RNA extractions/tried taxa	% of taxa with successful RNA extractions	Avg. μg of total RNA
Option 1: TRIzol/TURBO DNA-free	56/119	47	34/74	46	51.1
Option 2: CTAB/ TRIzol/TURBO DNA-free	43/63	68	31/41	76	77.6
Option 3: CTAB/QIAGEN Kit/on-column digestion	39/200	20	18/68	26	33.8
Overall totals	138/382	36	83/183 (without repeats 77/91)	45 (without repeats 85)	Total average 54.2