Environmentally benign. Background-free protein staining in SDS-polyacrylamide gels using an counter ion-dye complex solution.

Environmentally benign protein staining method in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) using both an acidic dye, zincon (ZC) and a basic dye. ethyl violet (EV) is described. It is based on a counter ion-dye staining technique that employs oppositely charged two dyes to form an ion-pair complex. The selective binding of the free dye molecules to proteins in an acidic solution produces bluish violet colored bands. It is a rapid procedure, involving only fixin and staining steps that are completed in 45 min. (omitted)