Comparison and optimization of staining methods for protein analysis in the Pythium sp.GY1938 strain of filamentous fungus

Objective To explore the best methods of staining in order to prepare a map of soluble proteins from the mycelium of the Pythium sp.GY1938 strain of mosquito-killing filamentous fungus.Methods Coomassie brilliant blue staining,Vorum silver staining,EMBL silver staining,and Blum silver staining were used to stain gels and map proteins separately after SDS-PAGE.Results Compared to the three methods of silver staining,Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 staining provided the most effective,simple,and quick staining of soluble proteins with a high molecular weight(HMW) or medium molecular weight(MMW)(≥44 ku).Vorum silver staining was effective at staining soluble proteins with a low molecular weight(LMW)(44 ku).Blum and EMBL silver staining were all not effective.Conclusion Both Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 and Vorum silver staining can be used to efficiently map the soluble proteins from the mycelium of the Pythium sp.GY1938 strain.The former is more suitable for mapping medium and high molecular weight proteins while the latter is more suitable for mapping low molecular weight proteins.