Polyacrylamide Temperature Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

Temperature Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (TGGE) is a form of electrophoresis in which temperature gradient is used to denature molecules as they move through either acrylamide or agarose gel. TGGE can be applied to analyze DNA, RNA, protein-DNA complexes, and, less commonly, proteins. Separation of double-stranded DNA molecules during TGGE relies on temperature-dependent melting of the DNA duplex into two single-stranded DNA molecules. Therefore, the mobility of DNA reflects not only the size of the molecule but also its nucleotide composition, thereby allowing separation of DNA molecules of similar size with different sequences. Depending on the relative orientation of electric field and temperature gradient, TGGE can be performed in either a parallel or a perpendicular mode. The former is used to analyze multiple samples in the same gel, whereas the later allows detailed analysis of a single sample. This chapter is focused on analysis of DNA by polyacrylamide TGGE using the perpendicular mode.