Hello Mithra
Agar agar consists of a mixture of agarose and agaropectin. Agarose, the predominant component of agar, is a linear polymer, made up of the repeating monomeric unit of agarobiose. Agarobiose is a disaccharide made up of D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactopyranose. Agaropectin is a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules that occur in lesser amounts, and is made up of alternating units of D-galactose and L-galactose heavily modified with acidic side-groups, such as sulfate and pyruvate
Agar is usually used in microbiology to provide a solid surface containing medium for the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Moreover, agarose is frequently used in molecular biology for the separation of large molecules, especially DNA, by electrophoresis.
The agarose polymer contains charged groups, in particular pyruvate and sulphate. These negative charged groups can retard the movement of DNA and some proteins. An agarose with low charged groups is therefore generally preferred for use in agarose gel electrophoresis of nucleic acids.
As agar is a complex mixture containing Agaropectin, which has sulfate and pyruvate groups, I guess it interacts more with biomolecules than agarose.
Hope it helps
Hello Mithra
Agar agar consists of a mixture of agarose and agaropectin. Agarose, the predominant component of agar, is a linear polymer, made up of the repeating monomeric unit of agarobiose. Agarobiose is a disaccharide made up of D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactopyranose. Agaropectin is a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules that occur in lesser amounts, and is made up of alternating units of D-galactose and L-galactose heavily modified with acidic side-groups, such as sulfate and pyruvate
Agar is usually used in microbiology to provide a solid surface containing medium for the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Moreover, agarose is frequently used in molecular biology for the separation of large molecules, especially DNA, by electrophoresis.
The agarose polymer contains charged groups, in particular pyruvate and sulphate. These negative charged groups can retard the movement of DNA and some proteins. An agarose with low charged groups is therefore generally preferred for use in agarose gel electrophoresis of nucleic acids.
As agar is a complex mixture containing Agaropectin, which has sulfate and pyruvate groups, I guess it interacts more with biomolecules than agarose.
Hope it helps
Thanks a lot for the reply. Actually i knew that the neutral charge and lower degree of chemical complexity of agarose make it less likely to interact with biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, but i didnot know the property or the interaction of agar with biomolecules. So now i have the answer.
Hi
I had the same question. Thanks for the answer!
we ran out of agar in our lab and I had to use agarose instead of agar for making media for Fungi and it did not solidify!
So, I'll go with Agar.
If the question is in microbiological culturing, I can say for certain fewer things will grow with agarose as a solidifying medium; some bacteria will grow in microalgal medium like in TAP with agarose, pretty nutrient rich (of course microalgae grow pretty well on this). Something else like BG11 with agarose won't grow much bacteria either. Bacteria seem to like agar as a solidifying agent more. But you can find all sorts of fun things on all types of media!
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