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Detection of DNA and lipopolysaccharide in thick polyacrylamide gels using an improved silver stain
Author(s) -
Marshall Thomas
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.1150040404
Subject(s) - stain , staining , ethidium bromide , coomassie brilliant blue , silver stain , dna , chemistry , chromatography , microbiology and biotechnology , lipopolysaccharide , polyacrylamide , albumin , biochemistry , biology , genetics , endocrinology
A methylamine‐incorporating silver stain is described for the detection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), protein and lipopolysaccharide in thick (3 mm) polyacrylamide gradient gels (4–20 % w/v). Its sensitivity for DNA and protein is more than 100 times greater than ethidium bromide and Coomassie Brilliant Blue R‐250, respectively. It detects 0.01 ng DNA, 0.16 ng of human serum albumin and ng quantities of lipopolysaccharide. DNA gives red bands whereas protein and lipopolysaccharide give brown/black bands. The staining procedure is inexpensive, highly reproducible and overcomes the problem of background stain associated with thick gels. It also gives excellent results with thin (1 mm) gels and can be used to stain a number of gels simultaneously. A simplified staining procedure is also discussed.