Direct Observation of Azimuthal Correlations between DNA in Hydrated Aggregates

Journal Article · Fri Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.148102· OSTI ID:20696529

Kornyshev, Alexei A; Lee, Dominic J; Wynveen, Aaron ^[1]; Leikin, Sergey ^[2]; Zimmerman, Steven B ^[3]

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1. Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London (United Kingdom)
2. Section on Physical Biochemistry, NICHD, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 (United States)
3. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NIDDK, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 (United States)

This study revisits the classical x-ray diffraction patterns from hydrated, noncrystalline fibers originally used to establish the helical structure of DNA. We argue that changes in these diffraction patterns with DNA packing density reveal strong azimuthally dependent interactions between adjacent molecules up to {approx}40 A interaxial or {approx}20 A surface-to-surface separations. These interactions appear to force significant torsional 'straightening' of DNA and strong azimuthal alignment of nearest neighbor molecules. The results are in good agreement with the predictions of recent theoretical models relating DNA-DNA interactions to the helical symmetry of their surface charge patterns.

• OSTI ID: 20696529
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, Issue 14; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.148102; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BIOPHYSICS
CORRELATIONS
DNA
MOLECULES
SYMMETRY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION