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Electrophoretic Separation of Humic Acids Isolated from Tropical Soils Through Modified Denaturing Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

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Abstract

Electrophoretic separation of humic acids obtained from soil was attempted through denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (dn-PAGE) by modifying the known methods. The modifications of sample preparation and gel composition led to significant improvement in both visibility and intensity of humic acid profile. The comparative profile showed a similar nature of humic acid components in all the samples and the commercial standard. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra indicated the presence of carboxyl and carbonyl functional groups and aliphatic chains in humic acid samples. The modified method facilitated better separation of humic acid. The results of the present study indicate the potential of dn-PAGE for electrophoretic separation of different components of humic acids.

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Acknowledgements

Divya Pandey and Abhijit Sarkar both acknowledge the financial support from CSIR, New Delhi, India, for Research Fellowships during their stay at Banaras Hindu University. All the authors are thankful to Head, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, for providing necessary laboratory facilities for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Air Pollution and Global Climate Change, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221 005, U.P., India

    Divya Pandey, Abhijit Sarkar, S. B. Agrawal & Madhoolika Agrawal

  2. Stockholm Environment Institute at York, Environment Department, University of York, York, YO10 5NG, UK

    Divya Pandey

  3. Laboratory of Applied Stress Biology, Department of Botany, University of Gour Banga, Malda, 732 103, West Bengal, India

    Abhijit Sarkar

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  1. Divya Pandey
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  2. Abhijit Sarkar
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  3. S. B. Agrawal
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  4. Madhoolika Agrawal
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Correspondence to Madhoolika Agrawal.

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Pandey, D., Sarkar, A., Agrawal, S.B. et al. Electrophoretic Separation of Humic Acids Isolated from Tropical Soils Through Modified Denaturing Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis. Agric Res 6, 179–184 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-017-0255-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-017-0255-9

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