What is included in a hybridization cocktail to promote nucleic acid interaction?

In the context of promoting nucleic acid interaction during hybridization, the correct inclusion is buffers and salts. These components are crucial for maintaining the appropriate ionic strength and pH in the solution, which are necessary for stabilizing the nucleic acid structures and facilitating the binding of complementary strands.

Buffers help maintain a consistent pH throughout the reaction, ensuring that the nucleic acids do not denature and that optimal conditions for hybridization are preserved. Salts, such as sodium chloride or magnesium ions, are essential as they help to shield the negative charges on the nucleic acid backbones. This shielding is vital for allowing the strands to come close enough for specific base-pairing interactions to occur.

On the other hand, macromolecules are not typically components of hybridization cocktails, as they could potentially interfere with the specific interactions between nucleic acids. Coloring agents are generally used for visualization purposes rather than interaction enhancement, and forming agents do not specifically pertain to nucleic acid hybridization processes.