title: A convenient method of aligning large DNA molecules on bare mica surfaces for atomic force microscopy.
abstract: Large DNA molecules remain difficult to be imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) because of the tendency of aggregation. A method is described to align long DNA fibers in a single direction on unmodified mica to facilitate AFM studies. The clear background, minimal overstretching, high reproducibility and convenience of this aligning procedure make it useful for physical mapping of genome regions and the studies of DNA-protein complexes.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China and The Institute of Biophysics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100171, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D020161:Physical Chromosome Mapping; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004247:DNA; C011934:mica