[Application of DNA sonication in the study of reassociation kinetics]

Single-stranded breaks arising is DNA under sonication divide the molecule in short double-stranded regions of lengths depending on sonication conditions. The reassociation rate of DNA with single-stranded breaks is considerably lowered as compared with intact DNA of the same length. For sonicated DNA the slowing of reassociation and the deflection to higher orders of C(o)t of the reaction is observed at the late stages. Further process of sonication occurs likely on single-stranded breaks and DNA fragments obtained as a result of infinite sonication are practically intact. Reassociation of DNA, degraded to a "saturation", proceeds as a second order reaction in precise accordance with the obtained fragment length.