1. What percentage agarose gel is currently being used?2. The gel will inevitably contain 0.7 % agarose (the minimum agarose concentration required to ensure gel stability). Hence, subtract 0.7 % from the agarose total.3. Divide the difference by 2. The result is the percentage of Synergel™ to be added to the 0.7 % agarose.Example:Convert a 1 % agarose to a 1 % Synergel™/agarose gel

Synergel™ is a synergistic gelling and sieving agent consisting of a modified polysaccharide which, when combined with agarose, forms a hydrogen bonded binary gel system. The addition of Synergel™ to agarose improves gel performance by providing superior separation and definition of DNA fragments up to 30 kb. A gel mixture containing 0,7 % agarose and 0,7 % Synergel™, e.g., will produce improved results when compared to a 2 % agarose-only gel. Synergel™ also provides greater optical clarity, which allows higher quality photodocumentation of stained gels.

Standard buffer systems like phosphate, acetate or borate buffered Tris-EDTA may be used in forming the gel with agarose/ Synergel™. RNA may also be separated in this system by using a 2,2 M formaldehyde-containing buffer. Synergel™ is compatible with standard blotting procedures, thus, nucleic acid may be electroeluted or transferred to membranes following standard Southern/Northern blotting protocols.

The figure compares separation qualities of A: 1,5 % Synergel™ / 0,7 % agarose and B: 4 % high-resolution agarose (NuSieve^®). Please see also figures for pUC19 markers T149 and X901.