Precision and accuracy of anion-exchange separation of nucleic acids
AssigneeThe Perkin-Elmer Corporation
InventorWill Bloch
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Abstract
Solvents for salt-gradient anion-exchange separation of nucleic acids, especially double-stranded DNA and especially by liquid chromatography, are improved by replacing NaCl as the eluting salt with any of a wide range of alkyl ammonium salts and can be used to elute nucleic acids in strict order of increasing length, with reduced sensitivity to elution temperature and salt concentration. Anion-exchange chromatography with these solvents is well suited for identification of DNA fragments on the basis of size, with greater accuracy, precision, and resolvable size range than often is possible with gel electrophoresis.
Claims10
An aqueous solvent useful for the anion-exchange chromatography of double-stranded nucleic acids comprising:
- (a) an eluting salt in the approximate concentration range of 0.5 to 1.5M composed of equal concentrations of:
- (1) a tetramethylammonium cation and
- (2) an anion selected form the group consisting of formate and nitrate, and
- (b) a buffer acid with a pKa in the approximate range of 3.5. to 9.5, which acid has a concentration not exceeding approximately 0.05M;
- wherein the eluting salt and the buffer are components of an aqueous solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.