In: Biology
Which (if any) of the naturally coloured molecules are visible while migrating through the SDS-polyacrylamide gel during denaturing electrophoresis? Explain why this molecule retains its colour.
Bromophenol blue which is also called as the loading dye is added to the proteins samples before loading the samples on the well. It is used to track the electrophoretic run during the course of the experiment. This is particularly used because of two reasons -
1. It has a slight negative charge because of which it moves along with negatively charged proteins towards the positively charged electrode. Note that, before electrophoresis proteins are denatured using sodium dodecyl sulfate which is an anionic detergent and imparts a negative charge to all the proteins.
2. The second reason is that it retains its blue colour during the electrophoretic run. It is possible because the dye is blue in basic medium and the buffer used in electrophoresis is slightly basic. This helps the dye to retain its colour. In the acidic medium, the dye turns yellow.
The answer to your question is in the second reason. Please give a good rating.