QIAprep 96 Turbo Kits Fast Plasmid DNA Extraction

The composition of Buffer P1 is:

• 50 mM Tris·Cl, pH 8.0
• 10 mM EDTA
• 100 µg/ml RNase A

After RNase A addition, the buffer should be stored at 2–8°C.

Buffer P1 is the resuspension buffer used in a variety of QIAGEN kits for plasmid DNA purification. Details on buffer preparation and storage are presented in Appendix B of the QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Handbook.

The composition of Buffer P2 is:

• 200 mM NaOH
• 1% SDS (w/v)

It should be stored at room temperature. Buffer P2 is the lysis buffer used in a variety of QIAGEN kits for plasmid DNA purification. Details on buffer preparation and storage are presented in Appendix B of the QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Handbook.

Find out which origin of replication your plasmid contains, and look at the table below for classification into high-copy or low-copy types. This table can also be found online at the QIAGEN Plasmid Resource Center in the section 'Growth of bacterial cultures; Plasmid Copy Number' . A way to determine experimentally if the copy number of your plasmid is high or low is to perform a miniprep. A high-copy plasmid should yield between 3-5 ug DNA per 1 ml LB culture, while a low-copy plasmid will yield between 0.2-1 ug DNA per ml of LB culture.

Origins of replication and copy numbers of various plasmids and cosmids

* The pMB1 origin of replication is closely related to that of ColE1 and falls in the same incompatibility group. The high-copy plasmids listed here contain mutated versions of this origin.

White insoluble material in the resuspended plasmid DNA pellet indicates carry-over of salts and/or carbohydrates. Ensure that isopropanol is used at room temperature for precipitation. Some bacterial strains, such as TG1 and JM100, naturally produce a high level of carbohydrates. However, carbohydrate contamination may also be observed when using other strains. The most common cause of this problem is over-growth of bacterial cultures. To avoid this, closely follow the guidelines for Plasmid DNA Preparation in the Handbook that was provided with the respective QIAGEN Plasmid Kit.

Useful hints and information on optimizing plasmid preparations can be found at the QIAGEN Plasmid Resource Center.

Low yields of plasmid DNA can be caused by a number of different factors. The most common causes for low yield are poor culturing conditions and plasmid propagation, excessive amounts of starting material resulting in insufficient bacterial cell lysis and column overloading. When working with the anion-exchange based QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Kits, extra care is required during the isopropanol precipitation step, as the glassy DNA pellet may be difficult to see, and tends to be only loosely attached to the side of the tube.

We strongly recommend to review the information provided on our Plasmid Resource Page in the section 'Optimal results with QIAGEN plasmid kits', as it provides useful background information on growing bacterial cultures and general considerations for optimal results. It is also necessary to follow the instructions in the relevant protocols precisely to ensure the best plasmid yield and quality.

To determine at what stage of the procedure any problem occurred, save fractions from different steps of the purification procedure, and analyze by agarose gel electrophoresis. For a detailed description on how to run and interpret an analytical gel, please see Appendix A in the QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Handbook: "Agarose Gel Analysis of the Purification Procedure", or visit the QIAGEN Plasmid Resource Center.

Running fractions saved from each step in the plasmid preparation procedure on an agarose gel enables monitoring the performance of each crucial step in the protocol. If the plasmid DNA is of low yield or quality, the samples can be analyzed to determine at what stage of the purification procedure the difficulty occurred.

Aliquots can be taken from the cleared lysate and the flow-throughs as indicated in the relevant protocols, precipitated with isopropanol and resuspended in a small volume of TE buffer.

Please see the Troubleshooting Section of the QIAprep Miniprep Handbook and Appendix A of the QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Handbook for instructions, and a picture and legend explaining the typical results you may see. You can also access this information on our Plasmid Resource Pages.

The components of the SOC medium are:

• 0.5% Yeast Extract
• 2% Tryptone
• 10 mM NaCl
• 2.5 mM KCl
• 10 mM MgCl2
• 10 mM MgSO4
• 20 mM Glucose*

*Note: add Glucose after autoclaving the solution with the remaining ingredients, and letting it cool down. Sterilize the final solution by passing it through a 0.2 µm filter.

SOC medium can be stored at room temperature and is stable for several years.

Buffer P1 with RNase A used in QIAGEN Plasmid Purification Kits should be fine at room temperature for a few days. We would expect the enzyme to have some residual activity. However, optimal results cannot be guaranteed after storage at room temperature. If you notice that RNase A activity is substantially reduced, you can add fresh RNase A to your buffer.

We recommend that Buffer P1 with RNase A be stored in the refrigerator (2–8°C). RNase A will be stable for 6 months under this condition.

Clumps that occur after addition of Buffer P2 in a bacterial lysate containing LyseBlue reagent indicate poor resuspension of the bacterial cell pellet in Buffer P1. This handling error leads to inefficient cell lysis, and incomplete precipitation of SDS, cell debris, and genomic DNA. When resuspending the cell pellet, vortexing longer or resuspending the pellet by pipetting up and down can help.

If cells have been resuspended properly in P1, “brownish areas” after P2 addition just indicate poor mixing of P1 and P2. To overcome this, continue mixing the solution by inverting it gently until a homogeneous blue suspension is achieved.

For high-throughput BioRobot plasmid isolation systems such as R.E.A.L. Prep 96, QIAwell Ultra, or QIAprep 96 Turbo Miniprep, there is no need for visual lysis control with LyseBlue reagent, because

1. insufficient resuspension and lysis have not been observed with these systems
2. automation systems already handle the lysis steps well enough
3. optical reading capabilities are not implemented on our BioRobot platforms

Yes, please follow the Supplementary Protocol 'Isolation of plasmid DNA (2x96) using the Sigma Centrifuge 4-15' (PR02).