Problem in sliver staining - (Jan/25/2005 )

Hi everyone,
I am seeking help from any experienced researcher. I did AFLP, used PAGE and silver stain to visualise the fingerprint. I found a serious problem on controlling the quality of my gel. About seven out of ten times I can't get a sharp band, although almost ten times I can stain the marker. Is there any tricks in doing so? Also I found that there is always a hole (blank region) in the middle of my gel. There is no staining in that region. Very interesting but very annoying. I ain't capable of scoring the fingerprint!! How can I solve this problem? Help! Help!

Sounds like your gel is not being stained for long enough, the hole in the middle that is, you need to ensure the whole gel is coverd by the stain for the stain to work correctly.

Bob

Hi, Bob,
Thank you very much for your suggestion. In fact, the staining period is about 40 min, a pretty long time compared to the standard protocol. But I will try a longer one. thank you. See if it works.