PCR product self life? - (Nov/29/2006 )

How long can you store a PCR product, I have one in the fridge for 5weeks which I need to clone but think it is too old

depends on how clean your techniques are (against nuclease contamination), what buffer your PCR products are kept in, how much was your initial yeilds, and what kind of ligation you intend to used said PCR products for.... TA cloning or normal RE digest and cloning.

I have kept cleaved PCR products (of high yield/concentration) in the minus 20 freezer for 6 months... before using it for subsequent cloning. Thus i believed 5 wks should be okay (However for use for TA cloning, it is not a good idea to keep the product longer then a day or two.)

I have cloned many PCR products kept at –20°C for month and they work well but ones, I tried TA cloning a PCR product kept at 4°C for 6 weeks and It didn’t work.