Detecting (and avoiding) foam in tubes

Hamilton (Venus)
21
  1. I know how much is in the tube since I add the lysis buffer in the previous step. However, I do not know the ratio between foam and actual liquid.
  2. The liquid amount is calculated from what I add before. E.g. the pellet is stored in Ethanol until extraction. I remove the Ethanol with TADM activated and discard the tip when it is clogged. I then add XX uL of lysis buffer and after incubation I remove XX uL - 200 uL of lysate so I have a bit of room. Therefore aspirating as little under the liquid level is desired to avoid the pellet.

BUT: Your suggestion might actually work out fine! But before trying it, I will check out silica-antifoams. They look like a really promising solution, since they seem to be effective at a concentration as low as 30 ppm, which should have no effect on my samples. I’ll keep you updated about this, since it might be interesting to others as well.

22

So, I got Silicone Antifoam solution from Carl Roth and it effectively inhibits all formation of foam at a final concentration of 100 ppm :slight_smile: Problem solved.

Will perform a testrun tomorrow, but am quite confident that this will work out fine!

3 Likes
23

Performed my tests and there was no foam formation (that I could not remove with quick centrifugation) whatever I did. Bead-beating, high-rpm incubation…

If someone encounters this problem I can highly recommend silicon defoamer :slight_smile:

5 Likes