what will happen when we use water instead of TE buffer
in gel electrophoresis ??

Question

what will happen when we  use water instead of TE buffer     
in gel electrophoresis ??

anonymous · Answer

pure water (deionized) will not conduct electricity so there will not be no electrophoresis. Hope i got what you exactly mean

anonymous · Answer

i have not mentioned pure water....
what if i use salt water ???

anonymous · Answer

sure we can run it in water containing ions, but the result depends on what you are expecting to do after gel run. In TE the EDTA is there for chelating Mg2+ so some enzyme actions will be limited (in TE, the product whether it is DNA or RNA will be protected).

anonymous · Answer

@starwardd i think if we use water DNA may get solubilized and Ph wont be maintained

anonymous · Answer

pH is not a big factor in solubility 'here'. because between TE (pH8) and water (pH7) pH difference is not so much. Net charge of DNA is negative so it will migrate to positive electrode even it (DNA) is soluble (i think it should be soluble to migrate in electric field).