DNA bending stiffness on small length scales.
Bending properties of short (15-90 bp), double-stranded DNA fragments are quantified using fluorescence resonance energy transfer and small angle x-ray scattering. Results from both types of measurements indicate that short double-stranded DNA fragments exhibit surprisingly high flexibility. These observations are discussed in terms of base-pair-level length fluctuations originating from dynamic features of Watson-Crick base pairs.
Yuan
Chongli
C
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Chen
Huimin
H
Lou
Xiong Wen
XW
Archer
Lynden A
LA
D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA