SB buffer is a
buffer solution
A buffer solution (more precisely, pH buffer or hydrogen ion buffer) is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or vice versa. Its pH changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is ...
used in
agarose
Agarose is a heteropolysaccharide, generally extracted from certain red seaweed. It is a linear polymer made up of the repeating unit of agarobiose, which is a disaccharide made up of D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactopyranose. Agarose is o ...
and polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis
Electrophoresis, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, "amber") and φόρησις (phórēsis, "the act of bearing"), is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric fie ...
for the separation of
nucleic acids
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main clas ...
such as
DNA and
RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...
. "SB" is a commercial trademark of Faster Better Media LLC for their sodium boric acid-based conductive medium (US Patent # 7811437), which is based on the publications of Brody and Kern.
It is made up of
sodium borate Sodium borate is a generic name for any salt of sodium with an anion consisting of boron and oxygen, and possibly hydrogen, or any hydrate thereof. It can be seen as a hydrated sodium salt of the appropriate boroxy acid, although the latter may not ...
, usually 1–10 mM at pH 8.0. It has a lower
conductivity
Conductivity may refer to:
*Electrical conductivity, a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current
**Conductivity (electrolytic), the electrical conductivity of an electrolyte in solution
**Ionic conductivity (solid state), elec ...
, produces sharper bands, and can be run at higher speeds than can gels made from
TBE buffer TBE or Tris/Borate/EDTA, is a buffer solution containing a mixture of Tris base, boric acid and EDTA.
In molecular biology, TBE and TAE buffers are often used in procedures involving nucleic acids, the most common being electrophoresis. Tris-acid ...
or
TAE buffer TAE buffer is a buffer solution containing a mixture of Tris base, acetic acid and EDTA.
In molecular biology it is used in agarose electrophoresis typically for the separation of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. It is made up of Tris-acetate ...
(5–35
V/cm as compared to 5–10 V/cm). At a given voltage, heat will be generated and thus the gel will be heated. However, SB buffer has lower conductivity than TBE and TAE, and thus the gel temperature is much lower than with TBE or TAE buffers. Therefore, the voltage can be increased to speed up electrophoresis so that a gel run takes only a fraction of the usual time. Downstream applications, such as isolation of DNA from a gel slice or
southern blot
A Southern blot is a method used in molecular biology for detection of a specific DNA sequence in DNA samples. Southern blotting combines transfer of electrophoresis-separated DNA fragments to a filter membrane and subsequent fragment detecti ...
analysis, work as expected with sodium borate gels.
LB buffer LB buffer, also known as lithium borate buffer, is a buffer solution used in agarose electrophoresis, typically for the separation of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. It is made up of Lithium borate (lithium hydroxide monohydrate and boric acid). ...
containing
lithium borate
Lithium borate, also known as lithium tetraborate is an inorganic compound with the formula Li2B4O7. A colorless solid, lithium borate is used in making glasses and ceramics.
Structure
Its structure consists of a polymeric borate backbone. The Li ...
is similar to sodium borate and has all of its advantages, but permits use of even higher voltages due to the lower conductivity of lithium ions as compared to sodium ions.
However, lithium borate is somewhat more expensive.
See also
*
TBE buffer TBE or Tris/Borate/EDTA, is a buffer solution containing a mixture of Tris base, boric acid and EDTA.
In molecular biology, TBE and TAE buffers are often used in procedures involving nucleic acids, the most common being electrophoresis. Tris-acid ...
*
LB buffer LB buffer, also known as lithium borate buffer, is a buffer solution used in agarose electrophoresis, typically for the separation of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. It is made up of Lithium borate (lithium hydroxide monohydrate and boric acid). ...
References
External links
Sodium borate as an electrophoresis bufferCost-effective media for the rapid and high resolution of small DNA fragments using polyacrylamide-based electrophoresisAnalysis of oligonucleotide annealing by electrophoresis in agarose gels using sodium borate conductive medium
Buffer solutions
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