Accelerated separation of random complex DNA patterns in gels: Comparing the performance of discontinuous and continuous buffers

Complex DNA fragment patterns produced by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assays were separated in agarose as well as polyacrylamide gels usin g a continuous buffer and two discontinuous buffer systems, with and withou t urea, respectively. The effect of very high field strength / current leve ls on the duration of separation, the relative mobilities of the selected b ands, and the appearance of the pattern was tested. The use of discontinuou s buffer systems resulted in sharper bands and better resolution at 30 min duration of separation for DNA fragments in the size range of 200-2000 base pairs. These observations could help researchers in the rapid separation o f band patterns produced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods u tilized in small- to mid-scale genome searches.