Thermal Denaturation of DNA Studied with Neutron Scattering

Journal Article · Fri Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.048101· OSTI ID:21532268

Wildes, Andrew ^[1]; Theodorakopoulos, Nikos ^[2]; Valle-Orero, Jessica ^[1]; Cuesta-Lopez, Santiago; Peyrard, Michel ^[3]; Garden, Jean-Luc ^[4]

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1. Institut Laue Langevin, BP 156, 6, rue Jules Horowitz 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)
2. Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 116 35 Athens (Greece)
3. Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Laboratoire de Physique CNRS, 46 allee d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 7 (France)
4. Institut Neel, CNRS-Universite Joseph Fourier, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble cedex 9 (France)

The melting transition of DNA, whereby the strands of the double-helix structure completely separate at a certain temperature, has been characterized using neutron scattering. A Bragg peak from B-form fiber DNA has been measured as a function of temperature, and its widths and integrated intensities have been interpreted using the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois model with only one free parameter. The experiment is unique, as it gives spatial correlation along the molecule through the melting transition where other techniques cannot.

• OSTI ID: 21532268
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.048101; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BRAGG CURVE
CORRELATIONS
DNA
MELTING
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMODYNAMIC MOLECULAR MODEL
COHERENT SCATTERING
DIAGRAMS
DIFFRACTION
INFORMATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOLECULAR MODELS
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
SCATTERING