Phenol-Chloroform at pH 8: Where's the RNA go? - (Jun/18/2007 )

Hi,

I've been perusing the posts on this site for a while, and I've found some confusing answer with respect to the following question. In a standard phenol-chloroform extraction done at pH 8 ("tuned" for DNA) does the aqueous phase contain only (or primarily) DNA, or does it contain all nucleic acids?


Many thanks,

David

At pH 8, the aqeous phase contains mainly DNA. RNA is in the organic phase. Turn the pH to 4, and the aqeous phase now contains RNA.