sodium vs potassium acetate

[Jeswin]

Hi guys,
Can anyone give me insight into the difference between sodium acetate
(NaOAc) and potassium acetate (KAc)? The purpose is for PCR
purification. I am wondering if there is a big difference between
these 2 for this purpose. I have read that KAc seems to be useful for
removing protein contaminants, but that is not necessary for my
application.

Thanks

[Cory Tobin]

When used in minipreps the purpose is to precipitate the SDS as well
as proteins. Potassium is slightly better at precipitating proteins
than sodium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofmeister_series) but
sodium will still get the job done.

For PCR purifications I have seen both potassium and sodium used.
Here is one protocol that uses sodium:
http://openwetware.org/wiki/Isopropanol_Precipitation_for_PCR_Purification

-cory