Nonradioactive detection of hypervariable simple sequence repeats in short polyacrylamide gels.

A method for resolving and visualizing genotypes for simple sequence repeat loci on short (20 cm) polyacrylamide gels is described. This method makes use of a modified vertical electrophoresis cell to allow rapid electrophoresis without variation in migration rates due to uneven gel heating. Gels are stained with SYBR Green to visualize and photograph bands on an ultraviolet transilluminator, thereby eliminating the need for traditional radioisotope labeling of PCR products for autoradiography.