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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Studying DNA Looping by Single-Molecule FRET
Published on: June 28, 2014
Global structure of forked DNA in solution revealed by high-resolution single-molecule FRET
Tara Sabir1, Gunnar F Schröder, Anita Toulmin
1School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Abstract:
Branched DNA structures play critical roles in DNA replication, repair, and recombination in addition to being key building blocks for DNA nanotechnology. Here we combine single-molecule multiparameter fluorescence detection and molecular dynamics simulations to give a general approach to global structure determination of branched DNA in solution. We reveal an open, planar structure of a forked DNA molecule with three duplex arms and demonstrate an ion-induced conformational change. This structure will serve as a benchmark for DNA-protein interaction studies.
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