Short-chain polyphosphates: Extraction effects on migration and size estimation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae extracts with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is commonly used to characterize the chain length of polyphosphates (polyP), more generally called condensed phosphates. After separation, nonradioactive, optical polyP staining is limited to chain lengths greater than 15 PO 3 - ${\rm{PO}}_3^ - $ monomers with toluidine blue or 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. PolyP chain lengths longer than 62 PO 3 - $\;{\rm{PO}}_3^ - $ monomers were correlated to the shortest DNA ladders. In this study, synthetic linear polyPs (Sigma-Aldrich "Type 45", estimated mean length of 45 PO 3 - ${\rm{PO}}_3^ - $ monomers), trimetaphosphate (trimetaP: 3 PO 3 - ${\rm{PO}}_3^ - $ ring), tripolyphosphate (tripolyP), pyrophosphate (PPi ), and inorganic orthophosphate (o-Pi ) were visualized after separation by an in situ hydrolytic degradation process to o-Pi that was subsequently stained with methyl green. Statistically insignificant migration reduction of synthetic short-chain polyP after perchloric acid or phenol-chloroform extraction was confirmed with the Friedman test. 31 P diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy confirmed that extraction also reduced PPi diffusivity by <10%. Linear regression between the Rf peak migration value and the logarithm of synthetic polyP molecular weights enabled estimation of extracted polyP chain lengths from 2 to 45 PO 3 - ${\rm{PO}}_3^ - $ monomers. Linear polyP extracts from Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown in aerobic conditions were generally shorter than extracts cultured in anaerobic conditions. Extractions from both aerobic and anaerobic S. cerevisiae included tripolyP and o-Pi , but no PPi .

Extraction processes reduce polyphosphate ion migration, dispersion and diffusion as detected with gel electrophoresis and 31 P DOSY NMR.

Inorganic polyphosphates (polyPs) have been identified in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells alike. Various extraction methods have been optimized as a necessary step before identification and measurement of these polymers. Three commercially available sodium polyP glasses were either dissolved or dissolved and extracted by two commonly used polyP extraction techniques - perchloric acid or buffered phenol-chloroform. The products were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), stained with toluidine blue O, and the migration results quantitatively compared. Both extraction processes reduced the relative migration distances of the peak and leading edges, and the stained band lengths, suggesting reduced polyP migration and dispersion. 31 P diffusion-ordered spectroscopy nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed that polyP extraction by perchloric acid or phenol-chloroform processes reduced polyP diffusion coefficients and suggested hydrolytic degradation with stronger end-chain signals. Reduced polyP diffusivity after extraction makes possible an overestimation of synthetic polyP chain length assignment when compared to unextracted polyP ladders with PAGE. The mechanism(s) for reduced synthetic polyP diffusion after extraction and intracellular chemical environment effects on migration are not known.