Tris-acetate provides electrical conductivity and maintains pH. EDTA inhibits metal dependent nucleases by chelating the divalent cations (Ca2 , Mg2 ), thus protecting the DNA from nucleases during the run.

TAE buffer provides faster electrophoretic migration of linear DNA and better resolution of supercoiled DNA. TAE Buffer may be more suitable than TBE, for electrophoresis if DNA is to be recovered from the agarose and purified using commercially available DNA purification kits. TAE is often prepared in concentrated stock solutions of 10X or 50X in the laboratory. A 1X working solution is prepared prior to electrophoresis.

TAE buffer has a relatively low buffering capacity. Therefore, periodic replacement of the buffer during prolonged electrophoresis is recommended.