Characterization of single-stranded DNA separation by capillary gel electrophoresis

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of polymer gel reconditioning, the shape of the capillary, the applied electric field, and the capillary length for single-stranded DNA. The polyethylene oxide gel had deformed under the high electric field causing the degradation of the separation power. By the reintroduction of the fresh polyethylene oxide gel for the next run, one-base resolution was recovered. It turned out that the tip of the capillary at the injection side needed to be clean and symmetric for much improved resolution. Changing DNA motion by the pulsed electric field resulted in the separation of DNA far more than 500 bases.