how much agarose to use - (Jul/11/2008 )

how do I know how much agarose will I use in DNA gel electrophoresis. Is there a general rule? like in running smaller DNA fragements, 1% agarose will be used and in higher MW DNA, 2% agarose will be used?

Higher concentrations of agarose facilite separation of small DNAs, while low agarose concentrations allow resolution of larger DNAs.

Find this link for concentration table
http://abe.leeward.hawaii.edu/Protocols/DN...trophoresis.htm

basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agarose_gel_electrophoresis
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/genet...ls/agardna.html
http://abe.leeward.hawaii.edu/Protocols/DN...trophoresis.htm

For fragments between 125bp-less than 1Kpb I use 2%, if higher than 1kb I Use from 0.8%(they are fragile so be careful) up to 1% if less than 125bp I prefer to use a 2-3% highly pure agarose.