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DNA homoduplexes containing no pyrimidine nucleotide

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Abstract

We show using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis that guanine+adenine repeat strands of DNA associate into homoduplexes at neutral pH and moderate ionic strength. The homoduplexes melt in a cooperative way like the Watson-Crick duplex, although they contain no Watson-Crick base pair. Guanine is absolutely needed for the homoduplex formation and the homoduplex stability increases with the guanine content of the repeat. The present results have implications for the nature of the first replicators, as well as regarding forces stabilizing the duplexes of DNA.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants 301/01/0590 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic and A4004201 from the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, 61265 , Brno, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Kypr, Iva Kejnovská & Michaela Vorlíčková

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  1. Jaroslav Kypr
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  2. Iva Kejnovská
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  3. Michaela Vorlíčková
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Correspondence to Jaroslav Kypr.

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Kypr, J., Kejnovská, I. & Vorlíčková, M. DNA homoduplexes containing no pyrimidine nucleotide. Eur Biophys J 32, 154–158 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-003-0287-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-003-0287-x

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