Sequence-dependent helical periodicity of DNA (original) (raw)
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- Published: 23 July 1981
Nature volume 292, pages 378–380 (1981)Cite this article
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Abstract
We have recently described a new approach to measuring the helical periodicity of random sequence DNA in solution1. It consists of binding short, stiff pieces of DNA to various flat surfaces and using DNase I to probe the most accessible phosphodiester bonds. The differences in length of the fragments produced are measured with high precision to give the helical repeat directly. This approach has now been extended to study the periodicity of defined-sequence DNAs using another enzyme, micrococcal nuclease, as well as DNase I. We find the helical repeat of poly(dA-dT) to be 10.5±<0.1 base pairs (bp), a value very close to that found earlier by us for random-sequence DNA, 10.6±0.1 bp, and confirmed here. Poly(dA).poly(dT) exhibits a distinctly different helical repeat, 10.0±0.1 bp.
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- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QH, UK
D. Rhodes & A. Klug
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- D. Rhodes
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Rhodes, D., Klug, A. Sequence-dependent helical periodicity of DNA.Nature 292, 378–380 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292378a0
- Received: 30 March 1981
- Accepted: 27 May 1981
- Issue Date: 23 July 1981
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292378a0