title: Direct imaging of DNA fibers: the visage of double helix.
abstract: Direct imaging becomes important when the knowledge at few/single molecule level is requested and where the diffraction does not allow to get structural and functional information. Here we report on the direct imaging of double stranded (ds) λ-DNA in the A conformation, obtained by combining a novel sample preparation method based on super hydrophobic DNA molecules self-aggregation process with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental breakthrough is the production of robust and highly ordered paired DNA nanofibers that allowed its direct TEM imaging and the double helix structure revealing.
authors.affiliation: Nanostructures, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Manola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Limongi
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falqui
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertoni
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scarpellini
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santoriello
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maragliano
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Proietti Zaccaria
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: di Fabrizio
mesh_terms: D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral