Precast Agarose Gels

Application

Precast agarose gels are designed for high resolution separation of nucleic acids, producing sharp DNA and RNA bands with low background fluorescence. Precast gels are individually foil sealed in plastic trays that help eliminate contamination from equipment and handling. Gels can be electrophoresed right in the plastic tray.

TBE - agarose gels are available in two common concentrations (1% and 4%) for DNA electrophoresis. Ethidium bromide (0.5 μg/ml) is included in the TBE-agarose gels for easy visualization. TBE-agarose gels are available in 8, 20 and 24 well formats. The separation range for the 1.0% gel is 500-1000 bp and 8-1000 bp for the 4% gel.

MOPS - agarose gels (1.25%) are available without denaturants (e.g. formaldehyde or glyoxal) for the analysis of total RNA, in vitro RNA transcripts, and Northern blotting. RNA electrophoresis usually does not interfere with staining.^1,2,3,4 If significant secondary structure is suspected, the RNA should be denatured by a method listed in the product insert. The separation range for the 1.25% MOPS gel is 0.25-10 kb.

Other Notes

DNA agarose gels contain 1× TBE buffer (0.089 M Tris-borate, pH 8.3, 2 mM EDTA) and 0.5 mg/ml ethidium bromide.
RNA agarose gels contain 1× MOPS (20 mM MOPS, 5 mM sodium acetate, 1 mM EDTA and 1 mM EGTA, pH 7.0)

Packaging

Package of 20 individually foil-wrapped gels.

Quality

No detected DNase or RNase activity

Specificity

1.0% Agarose in TBE buffer with 0.5 μg/ml ethidium bromide

Physical form

Gel size: 6.0 × 9.5 cm, 5.5 mm thick
Cassette size: 6.8 × 10.2 cm container tray; fits common horizontal electrophoresis units
Sample format: 8-well (portrait), 20-well (landscape), 24-well (2 × 12 well portrait)