I want to store an agarose gel (with EtBr) for using it in later time. How should it be stored (at 4 degree or simply in buffer) so that it can be successfully used. What is the maximum time that it can be stored in such conditions?
Agarose gel has a storage life of about 3 - 4 weeks if it is mixed with specified amount of buffer solution and it should be stored in dark at a temperature of around 4 0C. It is very light sensitive and should not be kept under light for more than 3 hours.
If the Agarose gel is stored without any buffer solution then it can be stored for 1 - 2 weeks at 40 C.
Agarose gel has a storage life of about 3 - 4 weeks if it is mixed with specified amount of buffer solution and it should be stored in dark at a temperature of around 4 0C. It is very light sensitive and should not be kept under light for more than 3 hours.
If the Agarose gel is stored without any buffer solution then it can be stored for 1 - 2 weeks at 40 C.
This is rather a strange thing to do - can we ask why??
I have stored bottles of 1% agarose in TBE for years without any apparent problem. The gel is not light sensitive as far as I know, but ethidium bromide (the horrible mutagen, which you can avoid using if you use gel red stain) is. Keeping the gel at 4oC is probably a good idea to reduce bacterial growth (unless you cast the gel under sterile conditions!). But you don't need to add buffer if you can seal it in a bag to avoid dehydration.
Dear Valsa Remony Manoj, I think you got it wrong. I asked about storage of agarose gels for DNA electrophoresis. Its just the situation rightly mentioned by Pranjal Kumar, so I wanted to make sure whether the gel could be used sometime later. I have no intention to store 'media' and use it later. Moreover, I presume no one here asks question to find out ways to keep up their laziness!
I have had success storing gels wrapped in saran wrap with a little bit of buffer at 4 degrees for a week to 10 days.
I have stored them at room temperature, submerged in TB or SB buffer in a lightproof container, for up to a month. Never tried with TA, as fungal contamination might become a problem there.
The main problem with storing gels is that sometimes you end up using them with a batch of buffer different from the one originally used, so there may be slight differences in ionic strength, EtBr concentration, etc. (Nothing that can't be solved by incubating the gel in the new buffer for 10-20 min though).
Hello Tias,
In reply to your last questions.
"Hi again, I usually add EtBr in the gel itself, so after storing in the buffer for a long time, is there a possibility that the EtBr will diffuse? So using that gel we might get fainter DNA bands and improper staining with EtBr?"
I imagine that, yes, the EtBr will diffuse into the storage buffer from the gel over time so your concern is justified. However, and in reply to your initial question, I have stored Gels in the fridge for 2 days wrapped in cling film without buffer, and they have worked fine. The fridge is dark for the majority of the time, and as long as the gels don't dry out they should be fine.
Like yourself I would normally make a gel with EtBr added but you could always post stain your gel in EtBr Buffer. I would recommend this if you are running samples along way down the gel as you will get better more consistent DNA staining and avoid getting an EtBr horizon in the middle of your gel.
All the best!
This is the kind of content that can save lifes, the laptop we use to analyze the electrophoresis gel is broken and I didn't know so now I have two gels with an unclear future, but at least I know they can survive in the fridge until it gets repaired 💙
Thank you all for sharing this... Very useful to save some unused gel(s)
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