High resolution electrophoresis of soybean seed isoesterases

A modified discontinuous buffer system for vertical polyacrylamide electrophoresis was developed with large changes in component concentration from the original Tris-HCl/Tris-glycine system of the Ornstein-Davis type. The new buffer system is able to resolve the fast soybean seed isoesterases crucial for cultivar discrimination. A higher number of anodic bands is obtained in comparison with separations under standard conditions. A "gelating boundary", resulting from the aggregation of seed proteins, is retarded and does not migrate out of the upper stacking gel. The same buffer modification is also beneficial to the separation of native seed proteins.