Analysis of Sources of Error in Quantitation of Purified DNA Fragments and Unpurified PCR Products by DNA Microchip Electrophoresis

摘要

We have investigated the accuracy and reproducibility of DNA quantitation on the DNA Lab-Chip and the relationship of these to the size and concentration of the DNA fragments. We found that quantitation of small DNA fragments, i.e. less than 200 bp, suffers from high relative error which can be improved by using an internal standard of similar size to the sample. The effects of trace chloride ion on quantitation error and sensitivity of the DNA Lab-Chip were also studied, and it was revealed that 0.2 mM chloride ion reduces quantitation sensitivity by 30% and increases the relative error. We also studied the effects of purification on quantitation errors in analysis of PCR products from cloning vector pUC118 and showed that use of an unpurified sample reduces chip sensitivity by 25%.