Lysis, binding and/or wash reagent for isolating and/or purifying nucleic acids

1 . A lysis, binding or wash reagent comprising:

at least one chaotropic compound that is a guanidinium salt,

at least one buffer compound, and

a polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant consisting essentially of polyoxyethylene (5) nonylphenylether, polyoxyethylene (9) nonylphenylether, or polyoxyethylene (9 or 10) isooctylphenylether, in the range from ≥8% weight/volume to ≤50% weight/volume based on the total volume of the reagent.

2 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent of claim 1 , wherein the at least one buffer compound is selected from the group consisting of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, N-(tri (hydroxymethyl)methyl)glycine, N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine, 3-(N-morpholino)-propanesulphonic acid, N-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazine-N′-(2-ethanesulphonic acid), piperazine-1,4-bis(2-ethanesulphonic acid), N-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulphonic acid, 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulphonic acid, and phosphate.

3 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant consists essentially of polyoxyethylene (5) nonylphenylether.

4 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant consists essentially of polyoxyethylene (9) nonylphenylether.

5 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant consists essentially of polyoxyethylene (9 or 10) isooctylphenylether.

6 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant is in the range from ≥9% weight/volume to ≤40% weight/volume based on the total volume of the reagent.

7 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant is in the range from ≥10% weight/volume to ≤30% weight/volume based on the total volume of the reagent.

8 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant is in the range from ≥15% weight/volume to ≤20% weight/volume based on the total volume of the reagent.

9 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the guanidinium salt is selected from the group consisting of guanidinium hydrochloride, guanidinium thiocyanate, guanidinium isothiocyanate, and mixtures of two or more salts thereof.

10 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 1 , wherein the lysis, binding or wash reagent is a binding reagent, and wherein the binding reagent further comprises a branched or unbranched alkanol.

11 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 10 , wherein the branched or unbranched alkanol has from one to five carbon atoms.

12 . The lysis, binding or wash reagent according to claim 11 , wherein the branched or unbranched alkanol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, branched or unbranched butanol or pentanol, and mixtures thereof.

13 . A kit for isolating or purifying nucleic acids from a nucleic acid-containing biological sample, comprising a lysis, binding or wash reagent of claim 1 .

14 . A method of preparing the lysis, binding or wash reagent of claim 1 , comprising: mixing the polyoxyethylene-based non-ionic surfactant with the at least one chaotropic compound and the at least one buffer compound, thereby forming the lysis, binding or wash reagent.