DNA fragment sizing with the Agilent ZAG DNA Analyzer System

The Agilent ZAG DNA Analyzer system is a parallel capillary electrophoresis system for high-throughput sizing of DNA fragments. Ideal for PCR amplicons and other DNA fragments, there are four ZAG dsDNA kits utilized on the ZAG DNA Analyzer system that cover a sizing range from 35 to 20,000 bp. Common applications of the ZAG dsDNA kits include analysis of PCR amplicons and restriction digests, genotyping, and microsatellite analysis. The ZAG DNA Analyzer system analyzes an entire 96-well plate at one time. The instrument holds nine 96-well plates that can be set up in the instrument to run continuously. Total separation times for the kits range from 30 minutes on the ZAG 135 dsDNA kit to one hour on the ZAG 105 dsDNA kit for 96 samples. In this application note, Agilent Technologies focuses on the performance of the ZAG DNA Analyzer system with the four available kits: ZAG 105 dsDNA kit (1 - 500), ZAG 110 dsDNA kit (35 - 5000 bp), ZAG 130 dsDNA kit (75 - 20000 bp), and ZAG 135 dsDNA kit (1 - 1500 bp). Fragment analysis on each kit explores the sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of sizing. Comparison of the sizing of the fragments between the kits was performed.