Category: Lab Notes
Protocol: Size Determination of Plasmid DNA Using Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
Plasmids are circular DNA. Their size can not be determined in their native state as the migration of circular DNA in agarose gel is quite different and can not be compared with the linear fragments of ladder DNA. To know the approximate size of plasmid, the first step is to linearize the plasmid using a restriction enzyme that generates strictly a single cut. This results in a linear DNA that can be run on agarose gel and its size can be compared with the ladder sequence.