Long-Term Preservation of DNA in Agarose Gels Using 70 % Ethanol

摘要

Gel electrophoretic size separation of nucleic acid molecules in polyacryl-amide and agarose matrices is a basic molecular biological technique (1,4) Convenience, flexibility and low cost have made agarose the gel matrix of choice for many electrophoretic applications (2), In many circumstances it is desirable to preserve the DNA banding within an electrophoresis gel, especially if comparison between gels is desired. Additionally, time constraints and distractions in the laboratory can often preventa permanent photographic record of a gel being performed before DNA diffusion has begun. DNA within polyacrylamide gels is customarily fixed by placing the gel in a solution of 10% ethanol (.3). Unfortunately, the only current method for preserving nucleic acids in agarose gels is to store at 4°C; this, however, only slows diffusion of DNA from the agarose matrix. This report describes an elementary technique for the long-term preservation of DNA banding in agarose gels.