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Crystal structure of four-stranded Oxytricha telomeric DNA

Nature volume 356, pages 126–131 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

The sequence d(GGGGTTTTGGGG) from the 3' overhang of the Oxytricha telomere has been crystallized and its three-dimensional structure solved to 2.5 Å resolution. The oligonucleotide forms hairpins, two of which join to make a four-stranded helical structure with the loops containing four thymine residues at either end. The guanine residues are held together by cyclic hydrogen bonding and an ion is located in the centre. The four guanine residues in each segment have a glycosyl conformation that alternates between anti and syn. There are two four-stranded molecules in the asymmetric unit showing that the structure has some intrinsic flexibility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    ChulHee Kang, Xiaohua Zhang & Alexander Rich

  2. Center for Human Genome Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

    Robert Ratliff & Robert Moyzis

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  1. ChulHee Kang
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  2. Xiaohua Zhang
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  3. Robert Ratliff
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  4. Robert Moyzis
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  5. Alexander Rich
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Kang, C., Zhang, X., Ratliff, R. et al. Crystal structure of four-stranded Oxytricha telomeric DNA. Nature 356, 126–131 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356126a0

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