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Helical repeat of DNA in solution.

J C Wang

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    |January 1, 1979
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Researchers directly measured DNA

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    Area of Science:

    • Molecular Biology
    • Biophysics

    Background:

    • The helical repeat of DNA is fundamental to its structure and function.
    • Previous estimates of DNA's helical repeat in solution varied, impacting structural models.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To directly measure the helical repeat of DNA in solution.
    • To provide precise data supporting or refuting DNA structural models.

    Main Methods:

    • Utilized gel electrophoresis to analyze topological isomers (topoisomers) of covalently closed DNA molecules.
    • Compared DNA molecules with precise length differences (1-58 base pairs) to quantify shifts in electrophoretic bands.
    • Related band shifts to the nonintegral residual of length differences divided by helical repeat.

    Main Results:

    Related Experiment Videos

    • Determined the DNA helical repeat in solution to be 10.4 base pairs per turn under physiological conditions.
    • Achieved a high precision with an estimated probable error of +/- 0.1 base pairs per turn.
    • Observed a significant difference from the 10.0 base pairs per turn characteristic of the B-form DNA fiber structure.

    Conclusions:

    • The measured helical repeat strongly supports the double helix model of DNA.
    • The findings reject alternative DNA structural models, such as the side-by-side model.
    • Solution helical repeat differs significantly from fiber-based B-form DNA structure.