The PR4100-500 is the 500-lane bulk pack of the Accuris SmartCheck 1 kb DNA Ladder, the large-fragment sizing ladder for plasmid linearization checks, large PCR products, and large restriction fragments on agarose gels. Ships as 5 × 500 µL tubes at 0.1 mg/mL in a ready-to-use formulation with loading buffer and tracking dye already included, direct-load on the gel. The 1 kb band-spacing is the right resolution for fragments in the ~0.5 kb – 10 kb range where the 100 bp ladder's spacing is too fine to span the relevant size range.
Key Specifications
| SKU | PR4100-500 |
| Type | DNA ladder (1 kb resolution, ready-to-use) |
| Pack format | 5 × 500 µL tubes (500 lanes total) |
| Ladder concentration | 0.1 mg/mL |
| Formulation | Pre-mixed with loading buffer and tracking dye (direct-load on the gel) |
| Resolution / band spacing | 1 kb (1,000 bp) |
| Sizing range optimum | Large fragments: typical ~0.5 kb – 10 kb |
| Purification | Multistep chromatography for clear, distinct bands with increased intensity |
| Smaller pack sister | PR4100-100 (100 lanes; same ladder, smaller pack) |
| Resolution sisters | PR4005 (50 bp ladder), PR4010 (100 bp ladder) |
| Returns | Non-returnable. Perishable reagent per Accuris reagent-return policy |
When to Pick the 1 kb Ladder
The 1 kb ladder is the right pick when fragments are large and 100 bp band-spacing would either pack too tightly to read or not span the size range:
| Workflow | Typical fragment size | Why 1 kb ladder |
| Plasmid linearization verification | 3–10 kb (typical plasmid) | 100 bp ladder doesn't span the size range readably; 1 kb ladder shows clear bands across plasmid sizes |
| Large PCR products | 2–10 kb | Long-range PCR amplicons need a ladder with bands spaced for that range |
| Plasmid restriction-digest mapping | 0.5–10 kb fragments | Mixed fragment sizes including large pieces; 1 kb ladder anchors the large-fragment portion |
| Genomic-fragment cloning | 1–10 kb | Insert-fragment size verification at the kb scale |
| BAC / cosmid analysis (compressed range) | 5–10 kb visible fragments | 1 kb ladder reads the relevant size range |
For fragments below ~500 bp, the 100 bp or 50 bp ladders are the right pick instead.
SmartCheck DNA Ladder Family: Resolution Map
| Ladder | Resolution | Sizing range optimum | When to pick |
| PR4005 (50 bp) | 50 bp band increments | Short fragments (50 bp – 1 kb) | Microsatellite / STR, short amplicons, tight spacing |
| PR4010 (100 bp) | 100 bp band increments | 100 bp – ~3 kb | Workhorse routine PCR-product sizing |
| PR4100 (this product's family): 1 kb | 1 kb band increments | ~0.5 kb – 10 kb | Plasmid linearization, large PCR products, large restriction fragments |
Pack-Size Economics: 100 vs 500 Lane
The SmartCheck 1 kb ladder ships in two pack sizes:
| Pack | Volume | Lanes | When to pick |
| PR4100-100 | 1 × 500 µL | 100 lanes | Lower-volume use (benches that run plasmid / large-fragment gels intermittently) |
| PR4100-500 (this product) | 5 × 500 µL | 500 lanes | High-volume workflows: cloning core facilities, plasmid-prep teams, teaching labs running plasmid-electrophoresis curricula |
Ready-to-Use Formulation
Per the Accuris Life Science Reagents Catalog: the SmartCheck 1 kb DNA Ladder ships pre-mixed with loading buffer and tracking dye at 0.1 mg/mL. The tube is ready to load directly onto the gel, no operator-side loading-dye supplementation required. The tracking dye migrates alongside the DNA fragments to indicate run progress.
Quality Attributes
Multistep chromatography purification. Clear, distinct bands with increased intensity for easy size determination, important for large-fragment ladders where band intensity at high MW can be a quality issue with low-cost ladder products.
Storage stability. Per Accuris ladder kit instructions, typically –20 °C storage with limited freeze-thaw cycle tolerance. The 5-tube pack format supports rotating one tube into active use while keeping the rest in deep storage.
Application Profile
Plasmid linearization verification. Confirming complete digestion of a circular plasmid to its linear form at the expected size, or confirming specific restriction-digest patterns.
Cloning insert-fragment sizing. Verifying insert-size in cloning workflows where the fragment is in the 1–10 kb range (gene-fragment cloning, expression-construct insert verification).
Long-range PCR product analysis. Sizing PCR products from long-range polymerases that amplify 2–15 kb amplicons.
Plasmid prep QC. Running plasmid-prep yields on a gel for QC where the supercoiled / relaxed / linear plasmid bands are in the kb range.
Genomic DNA quality assessment. Qualitative gel-based QC of genomic DNA preparations where the high-MW genomic-DNA band is compared to the 1 kb ladder.
Mid-size restriction-fragment mapping. Restriction-fragment analysis where the fragments span a wide size range and the large-fragment portion needs the 1 kb ladder for sizing.
Ordering & Configuration
Storage & handling. Per Accuris ladder kit instructions, typical –20 °C storage with limited freeze-thaw cycle tolerance.
Returns. Per the universe price-list category header: reagent products including DNA ladders are non-returnable due to perishable nature.
Confirm at quote: ladder resolution match (1 kb ladder for fragments in the 0.5–10 kb range), pack size (100 vs 500 lane based on workflow throughput), shipping conditions (cold-chain), and lead time.
Warranty: Per Accuris Life Science Reagents standard kit terms. Confirm at quote.
Accuris SmartCheck DNA Ladder family:
- PR4005-100 / PR4005-500: 50 bp ladder (short-fragment, high-resolution)
- PR4010-100 / PR4010-500: 100 bp ladder (workhorse routine PCR sizing)
- PR4100-500 (this product): 1 kb ladder, 500 lanes (large-fragment)
- PR4100-100: 1 kb ladder, 100 lanes (smaller pack)
Pick by fragment-size range. Most benches stock the 100 bp ladder as the primary and add the 50 bp and 1 kb ladders for the extreme-fragment-size workflows.
