A sensitive staining technique for the detection of phosphohydrolase activities after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

A sensitive colorimetric method for the determination of Pi in the range 0.5-10 nmol has been adapted for detection of several phosphohydrolase activities in polyacrylamide gels. This procedure, which leads to the formation of a malachite green-phosphomolybdate complex, may be used with many commonly studied enzymes, such as acid and alkaline phosphatases, nucleotidases, and ATPases. Since detergents do not interfere with color development, this assay is useful for monitoring the activity of detergent-solubilized membrane enzymes as well as normally soluble enzymes.