Direct Observation of the Hole Carriers in DNA Photoinduced Charge Transport
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Direct Observation of Enzymes Replicating DNA Using a Single-molecule DNA Stretching Assay
Published on: March 23, 2010
Michelle A Harris1, Ashutosh Kumar Mishra1, Ryan M Young1
1Department of Chemistry and Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) Center, Northwestern University , Evanston, Illinois 60208-3113, United States.
Abstract:
The excited state behavior of DNA hairpins possessing a diphenylacetylenedicarboxamide (DPA) linker separated from a single guanine-cytosine (G-C) base pair by zero-to-six adenine-thymine (A-T) base pairs has been investigated. In the case of hairpins with zero or one A-T separating DPA and G, formation of both DPA anion radical (DPA(-•)) and G cation radical (G(+•)) are directly observed and characterized by their transient absorption and stimulated Raman spectra. For hairpins with two or more intervening A-T, the transient absorption spectra of DPA(-•) and the adenine polaron (An(+•)) are observed. In addition to characterization of the hole carriers, the dynamics of each step in the charge separation and charge recombination process as well as the overall efficiency of charge separation have been determined, thus providing a complete account of the mechanism and dynamics of photoinduced charge transport in these DNA hairpins.
Related Concept Videos
DNA Topoisomerases
Types and Mechanism of action
Topoisomerases are divided into two main types. ...
Translesion DNA Polymerases
TLS polymerases are found in all three domains of life - archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes. Of the different classes of TLS polymerases, members of the Y family are fitted with specialized structures that...
Homologous Recombination
DNA-only Transposons
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
The Z-Scheme of Electron Transport in Photosynthesis
Photochemical Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry
Selection Rules: Photochemical Activation

