Gel electrophoresis measurement of counterion condensation on DNA.

We used agarose gel electrophoresis to measure the effective charge neutralization of DNA by counterions of different structure and valence, including Na+, Mg2+, Co(NH3)3+6, and spermidine3+, which competed for binding with an excess of Tris acetate buffer. Linear DNA molecules ranged in size from 1 to 5 kilobases, and supercoiled plasmid pUC18 was also measured. In all cases, the results were in good agreement with theoretical predictions from counterion condensation theory for two-counterion mixtures.