Effects of six RNA extraction methods on meta-transcriptomic of freshwater benthic biofilms

Advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled extensive studies of freshwater biofilms and significant breakthroughs in biofilm meta-omics. To date, however, no standardized protocols have been developed for the effective isolation of RNA from freshwater benthic biofilms. In this study, we compared six methods of extracting RNA from freshwater biofilms, ranging from column-based kit isolation to chemical reagent extraction. The RNA products were then evaluated to determine their integrity, purity and yield and were subjected to meta-transcriptomic sequencing and analysis.