Agarose gel electrophoresis equipment

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) analysis and agarose gel electrophoresis equipment. 

Agarose (molecular biology grade), ethidium bromide (10 mg/mL in water), DNA size markers (Type VII, Roche Diagnostics, Lewes, UK), and standard equipment for agarose gel electrophoresis (e.g., Horizon 58 apparatus Gibco BRL, Paisley, UK). 

In the original version of Southern blotting, DNA molecules, separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, were denatured by treatment with alkali and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by capillary action Figure 4-32 shows the equipment used. Buffer (0.4 M NaOH for alkaline blotting) is drawn up from the tank via the filter paper and in passing through the gel it transfers the DNA on to the nitrocellu-... 

In the previously described electrophoretic methods, the capillary was filled with electrolytes only. Another mode of operation in capillary electrophoresis involves filling the capillary with gel or viscous polymer solutions. If desired, a column can be packed with particles and equipped with a frit.68 This mode of analysis has been favorably used for the size determination of biologically important polymers, such as DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. The most frequently used polymers in capillary gel electrophoresis are cross-linked or linear polyacrylamide,69 cellulose derivatives,70-75 agarose,76 78 and polyethylene glycols. 

Preparative agar gel electrophoresis can be done both in columns and thick layers. Most of the column equipment used for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis can also be used for agar or agarose gel separations [226-268]. With the thin-layer technique... 

Gel electrophoresis is normally carried out in thin gel layers, for immunoelectrophoresis in agarose gels, usually 1 mm thick or less. Since the molecular interaction is temperature dependent, the system is sensitive to changes in temperature. This condition imposes some restrictions on the type of equipment to be used. Equipment and procedures have been designed to maintain the native conditions of macromolecules until the biospecific interaction has taken place. 

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