An inexpensive and high yielding procedure is described for the isolat
ion of DNA from small quantities of leaves or roots from Vitis vinifer
a. The buffer capacity of the extraction solution was found to be the
single most important factor in the isolation of the DNA. Different de
tergent (CTAB) concentrations have an effect on the efficiency of clea
vage by restriction endonucleases. The quality of the DNA was checked
by fingerprint analysis after digestion with HaeIII and HinfI restrict
ion enzymes and probing with the multilocus pV47-2 probe. Differences
between Vitis vinifera cultivars were detected.