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Sequence dependence of the helical repeat of DNA in solution

Abstract

Considerable progress has recently been made on the fine structure of DNA. X-ray diffraction studies of crystals of oligonucleotides of defined sequences have already provided several structures at atomic resolution1–8. Whereas all the crystals studied so far show bihelical structures with antiparallel chains and Watson–Crick-type base pairing, there is a striking range of structural variability, from the right-handed B-type to the left-handed Z-type helices. In contrast to the well developed methology for crystal structure determination, few methods of high precision and low ambiguity are available for studies of DNA in solution. Here we report the application of the band-shift method previously developed in this laboratory9 to the determination of the dependence of the DNA helical repeat in solution on its nucleotide sequence.

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Peck, L., Wang, J. Sequence dependence of the helical repeat of DNA in solution. Nature 292, 375–378 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292375a0

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