Effect of polycations on the electrophoretic mobility of bacterial DNA

The effect of protamine, spermidine and spermine on the electrophoretic mobility of bacterial DNA was studied using the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These polycations markedly lowered the electrophoretic mobility of the DNA. The maximum effect was observed when the protamine was used. The effect was due to the binding between the polycations and DNA molecules