ELECTROPHORETIC SEPARATION OF DNA-SEQUENCING EXTENSION PRODUCTS USING LOW-VISCOSITY ENTANGLED POLYMER NETWORKS

A low-viscosity (ca. 150 cP) polymer solution is used to resolve DNA sequencing fragments up to 580 bases long using the capillary electrophoresis format. Separation performance is compared qualitatively and quantitatively to that of a cross-linked polyacrylamide sequencing slab gel. Both the resolution and length-of-read are essentially equivalent, while the capillary separation is approximately 10 times faster than the slab gel analysis. In addition, separation selectivity and efficiency are examined individually.