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Key Documents

A9414

Sigma-Aldrich

Agarose, low gelling temperature

BioReagent, for molecular biology

Synonym(s):

3,6-Anhydro-α-L-galacto-β-D-galactan, LMP agarose, 2-Hydroxyethyl agarose

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About This Item

CAS Number:
MDL number:
UNSPSC Code:
41105317
NACRES:
NA.25

biological source

algae (red)

Quality Level

grade

for molecular biology

product line

BioReagent

form

powder

EEO

≤0.10

mp

≤65 °C

transition temp

congealing temperature 26-30 °C

gel strength

≥200 g/cm2 (1% gel)

anion traces

sulfate (SO42-): ≤0.10%

suitability

suitable for electrophoresis
suitable for molecular biology

foreign activity

DNase, RNase, NICKase, none detected

General description

Agarose is a component of agar that is naturally found in the cell wall of red algae. It is hydrophilic and has a high gelling property. It is most commonly employed for gel electrophoresis, to form porous gels to analyze DNA, RNA, or proteins by size. When a voltage is applied to the system the charged nucleic acids migrate through the agarose gel and are separated by size. The stability and gelling properties of agarose make it versitile and it can be used for many other applications in research such as, plaque and comet assays, and even as a scaffolding agent to name a few.

Application

Low-gelling agarose has been used in research:
  • for gel electrophoresis, low melting temperature is ideal for DNA extraction from gel -gel scaffold material for tissue engineering using BMSCs
  • to embed tissues in 5% agarose for immunohistology
  • for preparation of collagen-agarose co-gels to study collagen-matrix interactions in soft tissues
  • single-celled gel electrophoresis (comet assay)
  • for in-vivo 3-D imaging of zebrafish larvae immobilized on agarose strips

Features and Benefits

  • BioReagent suitable for gel electrophoresis
  • Band separation range: 200 bp - 25 kB - low gelling temperature is ideal for cell culture and viral plaque assays
  • low melting point (LMP) gel is compatible with several DNA recovery methods: phenol/chloroform extractions, recovery columns, electroelution, Beta-Agarase, and freeze/squeeze
  • Guaranteed quality tested for use in molecular biology, free of DNase and RNase

Analysis Note

The following is a list of properties associated with our agaroses:
Sulfate content - used as an indicator of purity, since sulfate is the major ionic group present.
Gel strength - the force that must be applied to a gel to cause it to fracture.
Gel point - the temperature at which an aqueous agarose solution forms a gel as it cools. Agarose solutions exhibit hysteresis in the liquid-to-gel transition - that is, their gel point is not the same as their melting temperature.
Electroendosmosis (EEO) - a movement of liquid through the gel. Anionic groups in an agarose gel are affixed to the matrix and cannot move, but dissociable counter cations can migrate toward the cathode in the matrix, giving rise to EEO. Since electrophoretic movement of biopolymers is usually toward the anode, EEO can disrupt separations because of internal convection.

Other Notes

For additional information on our range of Biochemicals, please complete this form.

Storage Class Code

11 - Combustible Solids

WGK

WGK 3

Flash Point(F)

Not applicable

Flash Point(C)

Not applicable

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Search for Certificates of Analysis (COA) by entering the products Lot/Batch Number. Lot and Batch Numbers can be found on a product’s label following the words ‘Lot’ or ‘Batch’.

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Mechanical and structural contribution of non-fibrillar matrix in uniaxial tension: a collagen-agarose co-gel model
Lake SP and Barocas VH
Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 39(7), 1891-1903 (2011)
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Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11(7), 12-12 (2017)

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