Hydration and solution structure of nucleic acids

Of particular interest among the revelations from recent new DNA structures is the finding that both strands of the repeated DNA sequences found in telomeres and centromeres may adopt alternative conformations. High-definition NMR studies yielded information on the residence time of the water molecules interacting with nucleic acids. A better knowledge of the residence time of the hydration water may be useful in assessing its contribution to nucleic acid structure.