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Sequence-Dependent Variability of B-DNA

An Update on Bending and Curvature

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DNA Conformation and Transcription

Part of the book series: Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit ((MBIU))

Abstract

DNA bending is universal in biology—both the storage and the retrieval of information encoded in the base-pair sequence require significant deformations, particularly bending, of the double helix. The A-tract curvature, which modulates these processes, has thus been a subject of long-standing interest. Here we describe the ongoing evolution of models developed to account for the sequence-dependent bending and curvature of DNA, namely the AA-wedge, junction, and flexible anisotropic dimer models. We further show that recent high-resolution NMR structures of DNA A-tracts are consistent with crystallographically observed structures, and that the combined data provide a realistic basis for describing the behavior of curved DNA in solution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biology, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Victor B. Zhurkin & Michael Y. Tolstorukov

  2. Wright-Rieman Laboratories, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Fei Xu, Andrew V. Colasanti & Wilma K. Olson

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  1. Victor B. Zhurkin
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  2. Michael Y. Tolstorukov
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  3. Fei Xu
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  4. Andrew V. Colasanti
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  5. Wilma K. Olson
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Zhurkin, V.B., Tolstorukov, M.Y., Xu, F., Colasanti, A.V., Olson, W.K. (2005). Sequence-Dependent Variability of B-DNA. In: DNA Conformation and Transcription. Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29148-2_2

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