ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY OF DNA IN GELS .2. SYSTEMATIC EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN AGAROSE GELS

A systematic study has been undertaken to prove or disprove the predic tions of a revised reptation model, biased reptation with fluctuations (BRF). Our data, which scan about two orders of magnitude of DNA size s and of electric fields, and a fourfold range of gel concentrations, are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with the model and suppo rt the applicability of this theory to DNA gel electrophoresis. In par ticular, we show that the mobility in the compression zone scales as t he first power of the electric field, and that the limit of separation scales as the inverse first power of the electric field, for low enou gh fields. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.