Denaturing Gel Electrophoresis of DNA in Alkaline Agarose Gels

Edwin M Southern, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Published online: October 2002

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003758

One of the simplest ways to separate DNA under denaturing conditions is to use an alkaline agarose gel. This method is not, however, suitable for RNA because it is rapidly hydrolysed in alkaline conditions. Similarly, DNA containing ribonucleotides will be nicked.

Keywords: RNA/DNA; denature; alkaline agarose

Figure 1. Submarine slab gel apparatus.
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 References
    Bailey JM and Davidson N (1976) Methylmercury as a reversible denaturing agent for agarose gel electrophoresis. Analytical Biochemistry 70: 75.
    Fangman WL (1978) Separation of very large DNA molecules by gel electrophoresis. Nucleic Acids Research 5: 653.
    Jovin TM (1971) Methods in Enzymology 21: 179.
    McDonell MW, Simon MN and Studier FW (1977) Analysis of restriction fragments of T7 DNA and determination of molecular weights by electrophoresis in neutral and alkaline gels. Journal of Molecular Biology 110: 119.

Related Sub-Topics:

Techniques and Tools in Clinical Genetics | Techniques and Tools in Molecular Biology | Biochemical and Biophysical Techniques | Enzymes: Structure and Action Mechanism | Nucleic Acids: Structure, Function, Metabolism
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Article Title: Denaturing Gel Electrophoresis of DNA in Alkaline Agarose Gels
 
How to Cite close
Southern, Edwin M(Oct 2002) Denaturing Gel Electrophoresis of DNA in Alkaline Agarose Gels. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003758]