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Electric field gradients and band sharpening in DNA gel electrophoresis
Author(s) -
Slater Gary W.,
Noolandi Jaan
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.1150091003
Subject(s) - sharpening , electrophoresis , pulsed field gel electrophoresis , electric field , chromatography , gel electrophoresis , field (mathematics) , dna , chemistry , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , physics , computer science , artificial intelligence , biochemistry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , genotype , gene
Abstract A mathematical study of the effect of non‐uniform electric fields on the width of DNA electrophoretic bands is presented. Using a simple model, we show that field gradients sharpen these bands during an experiment if the corresponding gradient of electrophoretic velocity is large enough. This is in agreement with experimental results indicating that narrower bands form when pulsed field electrophoresis is carried out in the presence of field gradients. Moreover, it is shown that there is in fact an optimal experimental duration that maximizes separation. Finally, gradients are also predicted to reduce the relative mobilities of the DNA fragments, which is a serious drawback of this technique.