Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 2, 2026

In Vivo Modeling of the Morbid Human Genome using Danio rerio
Published on: August 24, 2013
The B- to Z-DNA equilibrium in vivo is perturbed by biological processes
W Zacharias1, A Jaworski, J E Larson
1University of Alabama School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Birmingham 35294.
Abstract:
Right-handed B and left-handed Z conformations coexist in equilibrium in portions of plasmids in Escherichia coli. The equilibria are influenced by the length of the sequences that undergo the structural transitions and are perturbed by biological processes. The composite results of three types of determinations indicate a supercoil density of -0.025 in vivo. The coexistence of alternative DNA conformations in living cells implies the potential of these structures or their transitions for important functions in genetic regulatory processes.
Related Concept Videos
Proofreading
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Overview of DNA Repair
Chemically...
Genome Copying Errors
Proofreading
Errors During Replication are Corrected by the DNA Polymerase Enzyme
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...

