Figure 5.

RNA recovery from easy-to-lyse (a, E. coli) and hard-to-lyse (b, M. Smeg) bacterial species. The first fluorescent peak in about 10 seconds represents a bacterial 5s ribosomal RNA followed by two subsequent peaks linked to 16 and 23s ribosomal RNAs. The RNA profiles and yields were obtained by using Bioanalyzer on-chip gel electrophoresis and Nanodrop assays, which revealed comparable RNA yields to conventional bead milling. The RNA yield was calculated by dividing the experimental values with the theoretical maximal.