Nature 315, 604 - 606 (13 June 1985); doi:10.1038/315604a0

High-resolution structure of a DNA helix containing mismatched base pairs

Tom Brown^*, Olga Kennard^*, Geoff Kneale^* & Dov Rabinovich^†

^*University Chemical Laboratory, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
^†The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

The concept of complementary base pairing, integral to the double-helical structure of DNA, provides an effective and elegant mechanism for the faithful transmission of genetic information^1,2. Implicit in this model, however, is the potential for incorporating non-complementary base pairs (mismatches) during replication or subsequently, for example, during genetic recombination^3,4. As such errors are usually damaging to the organism, they are generally detected and repaired. Occasionally, however, the propagation of erroneous copies of the genome confers a selective advantage, leading to genetic variation and evolutionary change. An understanding of the nature of base-pair mismatches at a molecular level, and the effect of incorporation of such errors on the secondary structure of DNA is thus of fundamental importance. We now report the first single-crystal X-ray analysis of a DNA fragment, d(GGGGCTCC), which contains two non-complementary GT base pairs, and discuss the implications of the results for the in vivo recognition of base-pair mismatches.

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