Why do I get genomic DNA contamination in my plasmid prep?

Too vigorous mixing of the bacterial lysate causes genomic DNA to appear in the eluate. The lysate must be handled gently after addition of buffers P2 and P3 to prevent shearing of chromosomal DNA. The culture volume needs to be reduced if the lysate is too viscous for gentle mixing.

Use of LyseBlue Reagent enables visualization of efficient bacterial cell resuspension as a prerequisite for complete lysis, thereby helping to avoid overloading of the columns and additional difficulties related to highly viscous lysates.

Additional information for successful plasmid preparations using QIAGEN's broad selection of Plasmid Kits can be found at our Plasmid Resource Center.