title: Revisiting the central dogma one molecule at a time.
abstract: The faithful relay and timely expression of genetic information depend on specialized molecular machines, many of which function as nucleic acid translocases. The emergence over the last decade of single-molecule fluorescence detection and manipulation techniques with nm and Å resolution and their application to the study of nucleic acid translocases are painting an increasingly sharp picture of the inner workings of these machines, the dynamics and coordination of their moving parts, their thermodynamic efficiency, and the nature of their transient intermediates. Here we present an overview of the main results arrived at by the application of single-molecule methods to the study of the main machines of the central dogma.
authors.affiliation: Jason L. Choy Laboratory of Single-Molecule Biophysics, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, USA. carlos@alice.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yara X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Mejia
authors.forename: Yara X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Meija
mesh_terms: D002875:Chromosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D019065:Virus Assembly
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D004265:DNA Helicases