title: Helical periodicity of DNA determined by enzyme digestion.
abstract: The periodicity of DNA has been determined by binding short, stiff pieces of DNA to a flat surface and using DNase I to probe the accessibility of the phosphodiester bonds. We have found that the distance between successive DNase I cutting sites is 10.6 +/- 0.1 bases for the DNA immobilized on three different surfaces. We identify this value with the number of base pairs per turn of the DNA double helix in solution.
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D004247:DNA; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010507:Periodicity; D012995:Solubility; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases