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In biochemistry, denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose folded structure present in their native state due to various factors, including application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), agitation and radiation, or heat. [3]
Nucleic acid thermodynamics is the study of how temperature affects the nucleic acid structure of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). The melting temperature (T m) is defined as the temperature at which half of the DNA strands are in the random coil or single-stranded (ssDNA) state. T m depends on the length of the DNA molecule and its specific ...
Heat denaturation of DNA, also called melting, causes the double helix structure to unwind to form single stranded DNA. When DNA in solution is heated above its melting temperature (usually more than 80 °C), the double-stranded DNA unwinds to form single-stranded DNA. The bases become unstacked and can thus absorb more light.
This is the most common single nucleotide mutation. In DNA, this reaction, if detected prior to passage of the replication fork, can be corrected by the enzyme thymine-DNA glycosylase, which removes the thymine base in a G/T mismatch. This leaves an abasic site that is repaired by AP endonucleases and polymerase, as with uracil-DNA glycosylase. [2]
The double-stranded structure of DNA provides a simple mechanism for DNA replication. Here, the two strands are separated and then each strand's complementary DNA sequence is recreated by an enzyme called DNA polymerase. This enzyme makes the complementary strand by finding the correct base through complementary base pairing and bonding it onto ...
DNA structure and bases A-B-Z-DNA Side View. Tertiary structure refers to the locations of the atoms in three-dimensional space, taking into consideration geometrical and steric constraints. It is a higher order than the secondary structure, in which large-scale folding in a linear polymer occurs and the entire chain is folded into a specific 3 ...
The double-helix model of DNA structure was first published in the journal Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, [6] (X,Y,Z coordinates in 1954 [7]) based on the work of Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling, who took the crucial X-ray diffraction image of DNA labeled as "Photo 51", [8] [9] and Maurice Wilkins, Alexander Stokes, and Herbert Wilson, [10] and base-pairing ...
The double helix is the dominant tertiary structure for biological DNA, and is also a possible structure for RNA. Three DNA conformations are believed to be found in nature, A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA. The "B" form described by James D. Watson and Francis Crick is believed to predominate in cells. [2]