The ISOLATE II RNA Mini Kit provides a simple, efficient column-based method for the isolation of total RNA from a wide variety of starting materials, without the need for hazardous reagents such as phenol. By combining the stringency of guanidinium-thiocyanate lysis with the speed and ease-of-use of silica-membrane purification, the ISOLATE II RNA Mini Kit provides a fast method for the purification of high-quality total RNA from animal and plant cells and tissues as well as cultured cells, bacterial cells, yeast, biological fluids and cell-free samples. Biological samples which are sometimes difficult to process i.e. mouse tissue (liver, brain), various tumor cell lines, Streptococcus and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, will yield high-quality RNA with the ISOLATE II RNA Mini Kit. The online product manual has protocols for purifying total RNA from cultured cells, tissues, yeast, bacteria, biological liquids, paraffin embedded tissue and RNAlater® treated samples. There is also a protocol for a convenient on-column DNase treatment, using RNase-free DNase I that is supplied with the kit, for applications that are sensitive to very small amounts of DNA. The ISOLATE II RNA Mini Kit has been designed to deliver optimal performance in RT-qPCR in conjunction with either the SensiFAST cDNA Synthesis Kit and SensiFAST Real-Time PCR Kits, or the SensiFAST One-Step Real-Time RT-PCR Kits. Additionally, the ISOLATE II RNA Mini Kit can be used to purify samples for PCR and RT-PCR amplification using the Tetro cDNA Synthesis Kit and any enzyme from the Meridian PCR portfolio, including MyTaq DNA Polymerase.