Resolution of DNA molecules greater than 5 megabases by contour-clamped homogeneous electric fields

Excellent resolution of chromosomal DNA molecules from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans and Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been obtained using alternating contour-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) gel electrophoresis. The largest of these molecules is greater than 5 Mb in size and is resolved after 130 hours in a 0.6% agarose gel at a field strength of 1.3 V/cm and a switching interval of 1 hour. Separation of concatamers of phage lambda DNA reveals four regions of resolution in alternating CHEF gel electrophoresis. There are two regions of good resolution in which mobility approximates a linear function of molecular weight. These are separated by a region of lower resolution and bounded at high molecular weights by a region of little or no resolution. The four regions are of practical and possibly theoretical importance.