Gel Electrophoresis of Nucleic Acids. A Practical Approach

SINCE the first edition of this book in 1982, some methods used for the clectrophoretic analysis of nucleic acids have changed only marginally while in other cases entirely new techniques have been devised. The contents of this second edition reflect these developments. Nucleic acid sequencing is no longer included since there has been such an enormous increase in the diversity of techniques and extent of our knowledge in this area that the original chapters covering this topic have now been expanded into a separate companion volume in the Practical Approach series. One of the major new techniques now covered is pulsed field electrophoresis which allows the separation of exceptionally large molecules of DNA. Another key area described in detail are the ways that electrophoretic techniques can be used to study the specific interaction of proteins with DNA sequences by foot printing and' gel retardation analyses. "These techniques have proved invaluable in pinpointing the exact nature of the interaction of proteins with regulatory DNA sequences. In addition, the book now also describes the use of electrophoresis for the purification of synthetic oligonucleotides which are proving to be an essential tool in many areas of molecular biology.
In editing the second edition it has been necessary to balance the problem of the repetition of topics with the convenience of making each chapter as self-contained as possible. In all cases we have tried to make the book as comprehensive as possible while retaining the preferences of individual authors for particular methods. We wish to thank the authors for their help and forebearance of our editing their manuscripts which has allowed us to unite individual chapters into a complete text.