The EZ-96 DNA Methylation-Gold MagPrep integrates DNA denaturation and bisulfite conversion processes into one step followed by a magnetic bead-based clean-up for high-throughput methylation analysis. To streamline the procedure, high temperature is used instead of sodium hydroxide to denature DNA. Desulphonation and clean-up of the converted DNA is performed while bound to the MagBinding Beads. The EZ DNA Methylation-Gold kits have been designed to minimize template degradation, loss of DNA during treatment and clean-up, and to provide complete conversion of unmethylated cytosines. Recovered DNA is ideal for downstream analyses, including PCR amplification, endonuclease digestion, sequencing, microarrays, etc.
Q1: What leads to poor conversion efficiency/ low yields?
Poor conversion efficiency and low yields can be due to a variety of different experiment-specific conditions. Please contact Technical Support to discuss your specific experimental conditions and further troubleshoot with a product specialist.
Q2: How to quantify / visualize converted DNA?
Following bisulfite treatment of genomic DNA, nonmethylated cytosine residues are converted into uracil. The recovered DNA is typically A, U, and T-rich. The original base-pairing no longer exists. Instead, it is single-stranded with limited non-specific base-pairing at room temperature. The absorption coefficient at 260 nm resembles that of RNA. Use a value of 40 µg/ml for Ab260 = 1.0 when determining the concentration of the recovered bisulfite-treated DNA. To visualize, run converted DNA on agarose gel then chill the gel on ice for 30 minutes. The expected smear will be between 100-1500bp.
Q3: What is the minimum DNA size that can be recovered?
Q4: How long is bisulfite converted DNA stable at -20 °C?
Converted DNA should be eluted in M-Elution Buffer to keep the converted DNA stable for long term storage. If stored properly for long term (<-20C), the samples should last longer than a month. Minimize freeze/thawing to keep the bisulfite converted DNA stable.
Q5: Does bisulfite conversion only occur in a CpG context?
Bisulfite conversion will work regardless of context, so the kits are compatible with genomic DNA derived from plants and other species with high non-CpG methylation levels.
Q6: Is an incubation with desulphonation buffer for longer than 20 minutes recommended?
Leaving the desulphonation buffer on the column longer than recommended will cause more degradation and subsequently result in lower yields.
Q7: Which polymerase is recommended for amplification from bisulfite converted DNA?
ZymoTaq DNA Polymerase has been specifically designed for use in bisulfite amplification reactions. ZymoTaq is available as a stand-alone polymerase (E2001/E2002), PreMix (E2003/E2004), and qPCR PreMix (E2054/E2055).
Q8: Tips for bisulfite primer design?
