Resolution of Partially Denatured Deoxyribonucleate into Native and Denatured Components.

The development of procedures for fractionation of tissue deoxyribonucleate has received considerable attention since the demonstration (1, 2) of the compositional heterogeneity of such DNA. Earlier findings (3, 4) that the electrophoretic mobilities of native and denatured DNA were somewhat different suggested that zone electrophoresis might be used for separation of native and denatured DNA, and that, combined with procedures for partially denaturing DNA, it might provide another method of achieving a degree of compositional fractionation. A further purpose of the present work was to gain additional information on the extent to which partially denatured DNA consists of fully native, fully denatured, or partially denatured molecules.