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Two contiguous conformations in a nucleic acid duplex

Nature volume 275, pages 249–250 (1978)Cite this article

Abstract

DNA CONFORMATIONS and properties depend on DNA sequence and on environmental conditions1–3. It has been suggested that specific regulatory sites on DNA might have unique secondary conformations2. Conformational transitions, and the propagation of these transitions along a DNA helix, have been proposed as mechanistic steps in RNA transcription4 and DNA replication3,5 as well as having possible regulatory roles in these functions6. Whether two significantly different conformations can coexist in a DNA duplex, however, has been uncertain. The A and B structural forms of DNA differ greatly in base-pair tilt, base-pair positioning and sugar ring pucker7,8. Most DNA duplexes are generally considered to adopt the B form in solution whereas RNA duplexes and DNA RNA hybrids have only been found to adopt A forms9–11. We have synthesised a polynucleotide complex (Fig. 1) which has covalently linked DNA · DNA duplex and RNA · DNA hybrid tracts. NMR studies on this molecule demonstrate that the A and B conformations can coexist along a nucleic acid duplex and also that significant propagation of conformational transitions along DNA helices is unlikely.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706

    ERIK SELSING, ROBERT D. WELLS, THOMAS A. EARLY & DAVID R. KEARNS

  2. University of California—San Diego, Department of Chemistry, Revelle College, La Jolla, California, 92093

    ERIK SELSING, ROBERT D. WELLS, THOMAS A. EARLY & DAVID R. KEARNS

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  1. ERIK SELSING
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  2. ROBERT D. WELLS
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  3. THOMAS A. EARLY
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  4. DAVID R. KEARNS
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SELSING, E., WELLS, R., EARLY, T. et al. Two contiguous conformations in a nucleic acid duplex. Nature 275, 249–250 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275249a0

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