Objective To compare the feasibility,reliability and accuracy of cloning sequencing and direct sequencing for DNA fragments recovered from polyacrylamide gels after silver staining with that of routine cloning sequencing.Methods Heterozygous mutant DNA sample was separated by using single strand conformational polymorphism(SSCP)analysis.The mutant DNA fragments,recovered from polyacrylamide gels after silver staining,were analyzed by cloning sequencing and direct sequencing.The DNA sequence was compared with that from routine cloning sequencing.Results The correctness rate of direct sequencing for recovered DNA is above 97% and that of cloning sequencing is 100% which is the same as that of routine cloning sequencing.Conclusion Sequencing of specific DNA fragments recovered from gels is a rapid,practical and reliable way and is of usefulness in gene cloning and mutational identification.