All you need to know about mini and maxi spin columns

A mini spin column is a popular type of DNA column that has been extensively used as an economical substitute for plasmid DNA by major manufacturers. These columns are also the perfect substitutes for  viral as well as for a range of genomic DNA Kits including :

·         Qiagen, such as Qiaprep, QiaAmp, Qiaquick, and DNeasy

·         Sigma, such as GeneElute

·         Promega, such as PureYield DNA

·         Invitrogen, such as PureLink  DNA

Many manufacturers of these columns offer solution recipes for DNA gel extraction, DNA mini-prep, and PCR clean up for their customers who want to build their own solutions.

Some of the different types of Mini Spin Column Kits include:

DNA Gel Extraction Kits: These kits are designed with Membrane technology in the spin column set-up. They are suitable for extracting DNA from the agarose gel. They are the most useful columns, as well, if the starting DNA is more than 10 micro g

DNA Isolation Kits: The same Membrane technology is also used to design these kits. They can be effectively used in phage, plasmid, and genomic DNA separation.

DNA Clean-up or Purification Kits: As the name suggests, these kits are intended for purifying and concentrating DNA. Users can exploit the Mini Spin column if the starting material is not restricted.

PCR Clean-up or Purification Kits: These kits are used in the same fashion as that of the DNA Clean-up or Purification Kits. However, they are designed to clean and purify PCR.

A Maxi Spin Column is available in different volumes according to the needs of users. It is broadly categorized into two types, such as RNA maxi spin columns and DNA Maxi Spin columns.  Both types of maxi spin columns are capable of providing users with an easy, fast, and cost-efficient way for isolating RNA and DNA from different samples in a large level. They can be also be used for diverse applications by making use of different protocols and buffers.

Similar to a Mini and Tini spin columns, the maxi spin columns hold a silica-based membrane. It is well suited with all the buffers, which are used for Tini and Mini spin columns.  Users can exploit these columns with both centrifuges as well as with vacuum manifolds.   They can connect the Maxi filter column to a Maxi spin column for clarifying cell lysate by making use of vacuum manifold.

Typical maxi spin columns that are available with the binding Capacity of 1000ug are mostly used in the process of nucleic acid purification of size less than 300kb from genomic and plasmid DNA lysed cultures. Each of these columns is capable of processing cell cultures with varying capacities, ranging from 20 ml to 50 ml.

It should be noted that a purification assistant using the silica membrane in the form of a column is used in the process of RNA or DNA purification or extraction of nucleic acids of the highest quality. A maxi spin column is compatible with store-bought buffers as well as with in-house ones. These columns are available in 20 and 5 number packages.