Question

After digestion the material in the tubes is loaded into an agarose gel for visualization of the fragments, what is the purpose of each of the items loaded in the wells?

Answer 1

The different items being loaded are as follows:

• The loading dye is used for increasing sample density in the gel.
• Electrophoresis buffer for completion of the electrical circuit.
• DNA ladder is used for comparing with the samples, so that there would be an identification of the approximate molecule size, which would be run on the gel.
• Ethidium bromide is used for visualising the DNA present in the agarose gel. It would be binding to the DNA resulting in fluorescens under correct conditions.