HIGH-RESOLUTION SINGLE-STRAND CONFORMATION POLYMORPHISM ANALYSIS USING FORMAMIDE AND ETHIDIUM-BROMIDE STAINING

Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis using ethidium bromide can be improved by adding formamide as the denaturant. This g ives higher resolution than previous SSCP methods; it had 100% sensiti vity in the discrimination of 14 PCR samples from two different genes, even for a long fragment close to the upper limit of 250 base pairs, This modified procedure is a rapid, simple, safe, and yet highly sensi tive method for detecting structural differences in DNA fragments.