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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Real-time Observation of the DNA Strand Exchange Reaction Mediated by Rad51
Published on: February 13, 2019
Protected DNA strand displacement for enhanced single nucleotide discrimination in double-stranded DNA
Dmitriy A Khodakov1, Anastasia S Khodakova2, David M Huang3
1Flinders Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Abstract:
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are a prime source of genetic diversity. Discriminating between different SNPs provides an enormous leap towards the better understanding of the uniqueness of biological systems. Here we report on a new approach for SNP discrimination using toehold-mediated DNA strand displacement. The distinctiveness of the approach is based on the combination of both 3- and 4-way branch migration mechanisms, which allows for reliable discrimination of SNPs within double-stranded DNA generated from real-life human mitochondrial DNA samples. Aside from the potential diagnostic value, the current study represents an additional way to control the strand displacement reaction rate without altering other reaction parameters and provides new insights into the influence of single nucleotide substitutions on 3- and 4-way branch migration efficiency and kinetics.
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