Gel filtration of nucleic acids on pearl-condensed agarose

Abstract

The use of gel filtration to separate molecules with molecular weights above 2 · 10 5 was made possible by the introduction of granulated agar gels by Polson (1961). These gels might allow separation of high molecular nucleic acids according to size. An artificial mixture of T2 DNA and E. coli RNA has been separated on granulated 1,5% agarose gel ( Boman and Hjertén, 1962). The low flow rates in gels with agar concentrations less than 3% made them difficult to use but this was overcome by the introduction of pearl-condensed agar or agarose ( Bengtsson and Philipson, 1964, Hjertén, 1964). The present study describes gel filtration of nucleic acids from KB cells and poliovirus RNA on pearl-condensed 2% agarose. It is also shown that the composition of the buffer influences the elution pattern of poliovirus RNA.