Electrophoresis is a general technique that detects nucleic acids or proteins by the size of the molecule on gels. The separation of the biomolecules is done under the influence of strong electric field and separates, shorter DNA fragments. Apart from this technique, a different technique is possible in organisms with minute chromosomes. This technique is used to identify whole chromosomes by pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
PFGE is useful, for very long DNA molecules and uses many fluctuating electric fields oriented in many different directions. This allows large DNA molecules like whole chromosomes to twist through the gel to various positions depending on the size of the molecule. The suitable chromosome can be recognized on the gel by probing with a chromosome identifiable probe.
Thus, translocation, size between the identified chromosomes, and hybridizations to probes of recognized location are useful in detecting. This process explains which band on the PFGE gel match up with a particular chromosome.