water instead of TE buffer to dissolved primers - (Dec/20/2005 )

S.O.S...

i'm using quantitect primer assay for my real time PCR work..but then, i realized that my lab don't have any TE buffer pH 8.0 to dissolve the primers for RQ-PCR work..
is it possible for me to dissolve it with water. as far as i knew, lyophillized primers for normal PCr work can be dissolved with water. Does dissolving primers with water will affect the primer quality?
please help me..

make, borrow or steal some TE

but water is okay to in general but possibly primers will degraded fast, especially when frozen. also check suppliers info on that

We do all our primers in water and hold them at -20. They work fine. We used to have a 100X stock in TE, and then a working dilution in water at 1X, but somehow we got away from that and now just use water.

It hasn't been a problem for thousands of primers now...

i think it greatly depends on the manufacturer of the primers
i have never had a problem with storing stock at -20oC and working solutions diluted in water at 4oC for 12 months+

Regards

hai..
thanks guyss for the reply!! i'm really glad that i don't have to worry about this TE thingy...
all the best to you all!!

i have to admit, that i didn't do long term studies on it, but -20°C in water could be a problem if you want to use them 2 or 3 years later. but rarely anyone uses primers after such a long time

I dilute all my primers in nuclease free water and store at -20.

It works fine, trust me.

As for TE...you should be able to make that stuff...come on, it's just Tris and EDTA!

-Matt