title: Polymorphic curvature of satellite DNA in three subspecies of the beetle Pimelia sparsa.
abstract: The curvature of the monomeric repeats of satellite DNAs from three subspecies of the beetle Pimelia sparsa (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) has been analysed. Evidence of curvature was inferred from their retarded migration in native polyacrylamide gels, which was confirmed by direct electron microscopy visualisation. Sequence-comparison analysis, which included sequence alignments and modelling studies, was used to reveal the patterns of local bending and curvature. The effects of the minor-groove-binding drugs distamycin and berenil on the curvature were assayed, and analysed with respect to their (A+T)-rich sequence preferences. Since our study deals with satellite DNAs from closely related organisms (three subspecies), we correlated the differences in sequence, and also the high similarity conserved in the (A+T)-rich regions, with the changes in the patterns of curvature.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Biologia Fundamental i Ciencies de la Salut, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barceló
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petitpierre
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barjau
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Portugal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004276:DNA, Satellite