DNA in TE stored at -20oC is sufficient for everyday use and remains stable for months to years. DNA precipitate in Ethanol stored at -80oC will be more stable if you want long term storage- years to decades. Most stable though will be to dry the DNA.

DNA in TE stored at -20oC is sufficient for everyday use and remains stable for months to years. DNA precipitate in Ethanol stored at -80oC will be more stable if you want long term storage- years to decades. Most stable though will be to dry the DNA.

Depending on the concentration of ethanol you use, you will either precipitate your DNA out of solution or at low concentrations without salt present your DNA will stay in solution. Either is a drawback to rapid access to your sample. In the former case, you will need to pellet the DNA and resuspend it in TE for downstream procedures. In the later situation where the DNA is still in solution, you will have to get rid of the alcohol prior to use in downstream procedures. As Amanda O'Donnell has stated, the DNA precipitated in ethanol and stored at -80C is very stable or you can dry your DNA.

The question to you Kinjal, is : Are you looking for temporary or long term storage?

Will you want to use your DNA solution directly or do you want to remove ethanol prior to proceeding with the rest of your experiments?

Good luck

Hi,

Storing in alcohol at standard temperature  used in labs(-20 C) would  not preserve your DNA well.If you use alcohol and store - 80 C ,then as stated by  O'Donnel  and Sutton, you need to get rid of the  alcohol and resupend the DNA in TE or dd water.In such case,you could loss some of your valuable DNA and its concentration gets lower.

Best Wishes.

I agree with everyone above. DNA is more stable in alcohol in pelleted state since it is no more in aqueous phase and hence not easily degraded by enzymes. Enzymes (DNAses in this case)  act in aqueous phase. So, it is better for long term storage.

 As previous researchers have answered- DNA storage  in ethanol is useful if ur going to store for a long time may be  years and not disturb in between. But when u need the DNA often, better to store in TE buffer in smaller  aliquotes- with seperatestock and in use tubes to avoid frequent freezing  and thawing

Short-term storage (weeks) at 4°C in Tris-EDTA

Medium-term storage (months) at –80°C in Tris-EDTA

Long-term storage (years) at as –80°C as a precipitate under ethanol

Long-terms storage (decades) at –164°C or dried