Jim Kami wrote:
>> For some 15 years now I've been dissolving X-Gal in Dimethyl
> Formamide (DMF) as recommended in most cloning manuals. However, I
> recently noticed on a MSDS that X-Gal has an appreciable water
> solubility (0.1 - 1.0 gram/ml ). So I was wondering if anyone knew of a
> specific reason a solvent like DMF is used instead of a less toxic
> solvent like water or ethanol or is this just a historical accident like
> salmon sperm DNA ?
I'd be leary of using water. You don't want hydrolysis.
Ever since a Biotechniques article I've always used DMSO as a solvent
for X-gal. It has worked well in all applications including beta-gal
assays, and blue-white library titering.
Hope this helps,
David
===========
David L. Haviland, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Immunology
University of Texas - Houston, H.S.C.
Institute of Molecular Medicine, R907
2121 W. Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030
713.500.2413-Voice//713.500.2424-FAX
-----------------
If everything seems to be going so well, you have obviously
overlooked something.
==========
---
