Crystal structure analysis of a complete turn of B-DNA

Abstract

DNA is probably the most discussed and least observed of all biological macromolecules. Although its role in biology is a central one, with many examples such as operators and restriction sites where specific base sequences have control functions or interact with specific enzymes, the structures that DNA can adopt have been based until now only on sequence-averaged fibre diffraction patterns. Recent improvements in triester synthesis methods have made possible the preparation of sufficient homogeneous DNA of predetermined sequence for crystallization and X-ray structure analysis. We report here the first single-crystal structure analysis of more than a complete turn of right-handed B-DNA, with the self-complementary dodecamer sequence d(CpGpCpGPApApTpTpCpGpCpG) or CGCGAATTCGCG.