Mechanism of DNA hydrodynamic separation in chromatography

An alternative chromatographic procedure for the separation of large double -stranded DNA molecules was discovered recently and called "slalom chromato graphy". This fractionation is based on a new hydrodynamic process that is determined by the progression of the mobile-phase now through the interstit ial spaces created between the highly packed particles inside the column. H ere, the separation is treated as the result of a slowing down of the large double-stranded DNA fragments in relation to their size with the now direc tion changing around the particles. A model, based on the concept derived f rom the reorientation time of macromolecules, was adequate to describe the hydrodynamic phenomenon. This model constitutes an attractive tool to enhan ce the expansion of this chromatographic procedure and provide valuable inf ormation on the dynamic behavior of biological polymers.