Electrophoretic color marker

[1] The color markers are made up of a mixture of dyes that migrate through the gel matrix alongside the sample of interest.

Molecular weight ladders are used to estimate the size of DNA and protein fragments by comparing their migration distance to that of the colored bands.

[2] DNA and protein standards are available commercially in a wide range of sizes, and are often provided with pre-stained or color-coded bands for easy identification.

[5] Commonly used color markers include Bromophenol blue, Cresol Red, Orange G and Xylene cyanol.

[citation needed] The most common electrophoretic stain in agarose gel is ethidium bromide, however, SYBR green presents greater resolution and yield for single-stranded nucleic acid detection.

The dye inserts itself between the double helical structure of nucleic acids, allowing for visualization of the molecules under UV light.

[6] The dye, however, has reduced sensitivity in the detection of single-stranded nucleic acid samples EtBr should be handled with care, as it is a potent mutagen.

Coomassie Blue is the most commonly used non-covalent stain in SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for protein quantification.