Which of the following gel matrices is best suited for resolving DNA fragments ranging from 50 to 50,000 bp?
Agarose forms a porous matrix with large, tunable pore sizes determined by concentration, typically 0.7 to 2 percent. This range allows efficient sieving of DNA fragments from approximately 50 bp to over 50,000 bp, covering routine plasmids, restriction digests, and genomic DNA preparations. Polyacrylamide offers much smaller pores, ideal for 5 to 500 bp resolution at single-basepair discrimination. Cellulose acetate and thin-layer matrices lack molecular sieving for nucleic acids. Agarose provides low electroendosmosis, low UV absorption, and non-denaturing separation, making it the standard
Ref: NCERT Biology Class XII Principles on Klenow fill-in labeling, Lehninger Chapter 9 DNA cloning techniques, and Molecular Cloning by Sambrook Chapter 10 documenting end-labeling of cohesive termini.
