Analysis of variations in band positions for normalization in across-gel denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

•Between-gel variations in band positions were much larger than within-gel variations.•Between-gel variations did not affect total variations in the marker band positions.•Reducing band interval of markers is essential for reducing between-gel variations.•Confirming the band stability of the utilized markers is important.

Variation in band position between gels is a well-known problem in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). However, few reports have evaluated the degree of variation in detail. In this study, we investigated the variation in band positions of DNA samples extracted from soil, normalized using reference positions within marker lanes for DGGE in three organismal (bacterial, fungal, and nematode) conditions. For sample lanes, marker DNA (as a control) and sample DNA were used. The test for normality of distribution showed that the position data of a large percentage of bands were normally distributed but not for certain bands. For the normally-distributed data, their variations [standard deviation of marker bands (SDM) and standard deviation of sample bands (SDS), respectively] were assessed. For all organismal conditions, the degree of within-gel variation were similar between SDMs and SDSs, while between-gel variations in SDSs were larger than those in SDMs. Due to the large effect of between-gel variations, the total variations in SDSs were more varied between sample bands, and the mean variations of all sample bands were higher than those in the markers. We found that the total variation in the fungal and nematode SDSs decreased when the intervals between marker bands were narrowed, suggesting that band interval is important for reducing total variation in normalized band positions. For the non-normally distributed data, the distribution was examined in detail. This study provided detailed information on the variation of band positions, which could help to optimize markers for reducing band position variation, and could aid in the accurate identification of bands in across-gel DGGE analyses.