A PERSONAL COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR AUTOMATED ANALYSIS OF STAINED DNA GELS

ELECTRONIC IMAGE PROCESSING OF ONE- OR TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORETIC GELS REQUIRES SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE FOR ANALYSIS. ALTHOUGH SEVERAL COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PACKAGES PROVIDE GENERIC IMAGE ENHANCEMENT AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS, A HIGH DEGREE OF USER MODIFICATION IS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE USEFUL DATA FOR ONE- OR TWO-DIMENSIONAL GELS. DEDICATED SOFTWARE FOR ELECTROPHORETIC GELS FOCUSES PRIMARILY ON TWO-DIMENSIONAL PROTEIN SEPARATION. HOWEVER, THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC IMAGE ANALYSIS TO ONE-DIMENSIONAL SEPARATIONS OF DNA FRAGMENTS HAS RECEIVED RELATIVELY LITTLE ATTENTION. PHASE I WILL DEVELOP COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR CAPTURING, ENHANCING, AND DOCUMENTING ELECTRONICALLY ACQUIRED IMAGES OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORETIC SEPARATIONS OF FLUORESCENTLY STAINED DNA FRAGMENTS, AND FOR THE SUBSEQUENT CONVERSION OF THESE DATA TO MOLECULAR WEIGHT AND CONCENTRATION INFORMATION TO BE USED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND RESTRICTION FRAGMENT MAPPING. THE PROJECT EMPHASIZES DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED PROCEDURES FOR LOCATING BAND POSITIONS, DETERMING RELATIVE DNA CONCENTRATION, CALCULATING MOLECULAR WEIGHTS, AND ANALYZING MIGRATION ABNORMALITIES. THIS APPROACH WILL PROVIDE A MANY-FOLD IMPROVEMENT IN TIME AND ACCURACY OVER MANUAL METHODS.