The Qiagen Blood and Tissue Kit ran out of Proteinase K… post details notes about what I can do moving forward!

The Issue

I was given extra Qiagen Blood and Tissue Kits from Olivia Graham from FHL for use in extracting DNA from mussel tissue.

However, there was not NEARLY enough Proteinase K, which is an important component of the lysis process.

The Question

I have used Proteinase K in the past for my sea star coelomocyte extractions using the Zymo Research Quick DNA/RNA Microprep Plus Kit. I still have some extra in the freezer in FTR 213 from previous kits. Could I use that?

The Answer

I messaged the Qiagen Help folks and Shaula G responded to my question saying that I absolutely could use a different Proteinase K, and that the main thing to pay attention to is the concentration. The Proteinase K from Qiagen is 20mg/mL.

The Proteinase K from Zymo is “Our Proteinase K can generally be used with other commercially available extraction kits. However, we cannot formally validate or guarantee performance with third-party kits. We recommend following the third-party kit manufacturer’s guidance regarding Proteinase K concentration, incubation conditions, and any required inactivation or cleanup steps before proceeding with extraction.”

Moving Forward

So, it seems as though I can use the Proteinase K from Zymo Research, as long as I have it in the correct concentration (20mg/mL). Yay!