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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +publish: true |
| 3 | +aliases: gel |
| 4 | +created: 2026-03-13T08:01:11.777+00:00 |
| 5 | +modified: 2026-03-13T08:02:06.968+00:00 |
| 6 | +cssclasses: "" |
| 7 | +--- |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +## Purpose |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +Agarose gel electrophoresis separates DNA fragments based on size. It is commonly used to verify: |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +- PCR amplification products |
| 15 | +- Restriction enzyme digestions |
| 16 | +- Plasmid preparations |
| 17 | +- DNA fragment sizes |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +DNA migrates through agarose toward the positive electrode because DNA is negatively charged. Smaller fragments move faster than larger ones. |
| 20 | +# Preparing DNA Samples for Loading |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +DNA samples should be mixed with a **loading buffer** before loading into the gel in most cases. |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +Loading buffer serves two purposes: |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +1. **Adds density** so the sample sinks into the well |
| 27 | +2. **Contains tracking dyes** so migration during electrophoresis can be monitored |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +Common dyes: |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +- Xylene cyanol FF (light blue color) |
| 32 | +- Bromophenol blue (dark blue color) |
| 33 | +- Orange G |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +![[GEL.png]] |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +The dye migration roughly corresponds to DNA fragment sizes depending on agarose concentration. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +We use this buffer that we make ourselves [[6x DNA loading buffer]] it has Xylene cyanol FF and Orange G |
| 40 | +but no Bromophenol blue as this dye has a tendency to hide some DNA bands. Our loading buffer |
| 41 | +is also PCR compatible, which means that it can be added to the PCR mix prior to PCR. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +You can add loading buffer to PCR by substituting some of the water added. For each 100 µL of |
| 44 | +PCR reaction mix, substitute 17 µL of water with [[6x DNA loading buffer]]. |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +You can also prepare [[2x PCR mastermix]] with loading buffer. For each 100 µL of 2x mastermix, substitute |
| 47 | +17 * 2 = 34 µL of water with [[6x DNA loading buffer]]. |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +> [!WARNING] |
| 50 | +>Not all loading buffers are PCR compatible. Do not use other loading buffers in the lab without verifying tha |
| 51 | +>the buffer is compatible with PCR |
| 52 | +
|
| 53 | +# Using 6× Loading Buffer |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +A **6× loading buffer** must be diluted to **1× final concentration** in the DNA sample. |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +1 part 6× loading buffer + 5 parts DNA sample |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +The sample preparation depends on how much DNA we expect in the sample. |
| 60 | +It is not advisable to load more than 10 µL |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +| 6× loading buffer (µL) | H2O | DNA sample | Total volume | | |
| 63 | +| ---------------------- | --- | ---------- | ------------ | ------------------------ | |
| 64 | +| 1 | - | 5 | 6 | Standard for PCR product | |
| 65 | +| 1.5 | - | 8.5 | 10 | For a weak PCR product | |
| 66 | +| 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | Typical plasmid miniprep | |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | +If you analyse a [[restriction digestion]], it is important to load an equal amount of undigested DNA as a reference. |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +For example, if you digested 2 µL plasmid DNA in a total of 10 µL and you want to analyze 5 µL on a gel, this sample effectively contains 1 µL of the original DNA. |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +If you have several, samples, spot the loading buffer on a piece of parafilm as shown below. Add water if needed |
| 73 | +and then the DNA just before loading the gel. This saves a lot of time and plastic tubes. |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +![[GEL-1.png]] |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +# Typical Agarose Gel Percentages |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +| Agarose % | DNA size resolution | | |
| 81 | +| --------- | ------------------- | ------------------------ | |
| 82 | +| 0.7 % | 0.8–10 kb | | |
| 83 | +| 1.0 % | 0.5–7 kb | We routinely use 1% gels | |
| 84 | +| 1.5 % | 0.2–3 kb | | |
| 85 | +| 2.0 % | 0.1–2 kb | | |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +Higher agarose concentrations resolve smaller fragments better. |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +<http://www.gelanalyzer.com/index.html> |
| 91 | +<http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyelph/files/releases/> |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | +- [[How many times can I reuse electrophoresis buffer?]] |
| 97 | +- [[TAE]] |
| 98 | +- [[FatVal]] |
| 99 | +- [[Turner]] |
| 100 | +- [[Bachman]] |
| 101 | +- [[Midori Green DNA loading buffer (LBx2wMidori)]] |
| 102 | +- [[LiAc Borate]] |
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