title: Universal interpolating function for the dispersion coefficient of DNA fragments in sieving matrices.
abstract: The separation of DNA fragments by (slab or capillary) gel electrophoresis has been studied extensively. To characterize the separation achieved by such systems, one needs to understand the impact (and their dependency upon the experimental quantities) of two physical parameters: the electrophoretic mobility mu and the diffusion coefficient D. Three different regimes have been shown to exist for both mu and D: the Ogston regime, the reptation regime and the reptation with orientation regime (note that separation is only possible for the first two regimes). In the small electric field limit, both mu and D are apparently well described by theories for all three regimes. Unfortunately this results in disjointed scaling laws and no theory-based general equations can apply to all regimes. Recently, an empirical interpolating formula has been proposed that adequately fits the low electric field mobility mu of dsDNA fragments across all three regimes and is compatible with accepted theories. In this article we review and clarify the current state of knowledge regarding the size dependence of the mobility and the diffusion coefficient and propose an interpolating formula for molecular size dependence of the low field diffusion coefficient D. With formulas for both the mobility and the diffusion coefficient as a function of the experimental conditions one could, in principle, optimize any gel/polymer matrix-based electrophoresis system for a wide range of DNA molecular sizes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mercier
authors.forename: Gary W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Slater
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004058:Diffusion; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D008433:Mathematics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA