Microwave absorption spectroscopy of DNA

By utilizing a novel approach to microwave spectrometry, we have measured the absolute absorption spectrum of plasmid DNA (pUC8.c2), in buffered aqueous solution, from 5 to 20 GHz. Our technique does not suffer from the same experimental difficulties that plague other methods. We observe no absorption resonances in this frequency range, but we do see broadband differences, between DNA and pure buffer, that are attributable to changes in the ionic conductivity of the solutions. These results constitute the first verification, by a totally different technique, of the absence of resonances in the microwave absorption spectrum of DNA, and the first data obtained by any technique in the 10–20-GHz band. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of sonicated DNA above 40 MHz

The dielectric properties of sonicated calf-thymus DNA sodium salt in aqueous solutions have been studied in the frequency range from 40 MHz to 2 GHz by time domain spectroscopy (TDS). A dielectric dispersion not previously reported was found, which has a characteristic frequency of about 150 MHz. All of the dielectric parameters are insensitive to the size of DNA fragments and to helix-to-coil transitions. The study of this dispersion as a function of DNA concentration and temperature allows us to conclude that it may be due to counterion fluctuation on short sections, probably in a direction transverse to the macromolecular axis.     

Construction of a family of universal expression plasmid vectors

A family of universal expression vectors based on the pUC8 and pUC9 plasmids has been constructed. These vectors cover all three possible reading frames in both directions, allowing any synthetic DNA, genomic DNA or cDNA to be expressed under control of the lac promoter. The four new vectors retain the useful features of the pUC plasmids, including the blue to white color change on X-gal plates indicating the presence of an insert. This family of expression vectors is expected to be quite useful in allowing direct immunological screening of cDNA or genomic DNA banks.     

Effect of ions on the dielectric relaxation of DNA

The dielectric relaxation of DNA solutions has been investigated with and without extraneous ions covering a wide frequency range. The effect of monovalent ions such as Na, K, and Li as well as divalent ions such as Mg, Ca, and Hg have been included in the study. These ions are found to have a profound effect on the dielectric increment and the relaxation time without affecting the molecular dimension drastically. This dielectric effect is interpreted as indicating the importance of counterion fluctuation on the low frequency dielectric constant of DNA in solution. The effect of an organic ion, tetra-methylammoniun bromide, has also been studied. This ion has no noticeable effect. A simple theory is derived on the basis of a microscopic model to account for the effect of external ions on the dielectric behavior of solutions of DNA.     

Microdissection of human chromosomal regions 8q23.3-q24.11 and 2q33-qter: construction of DNA libraries and isolation of their clones.

Human chromosomal regions 8q23.3-q24.11 and 2q33-qter were microdissected, DNAs from the regions were amplified with the primer-linker method of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and their DNA libraries were constructed by cloning into pUC19. The primer-linker PCR involved Sau3AI digestion of microdissected chromosomal DNAs, ligation of the digests to a 10mer DNA linker and 24mer primer, filling the recessed 3' ends, and PCR amplification using the 24mer DNA as a primer. A total of 3.5 x 10(4) pUC19 recombinants (8q library) from the 8q region and 5.0 x 10(4) pUC clones (2q library) from the 2q region were obtained. From the 8q library, 60 pUC clones were selected, while 88 pUC-clones were selected from the 2q library. These clones were Southern blot analyzed on hybrid cell panels with or without human chromosome 8 or 2. Twelve (20%) of the 60 8q-derived clones were unique DNA sequences, and 9 were subjected to deletion analysis in the genomic DNA of two patients, one with trichorhino-phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) type I and the other with TRPS type II, both with del(8) (q23.3q24.13). Five of the 9 pUC clones tested showed a one-copy density in both patients, an indication that the clones map to the region deleted in both patients. Screening a genomic DNA library constructed in the phage revealed a clone with a 9.4-kb insert and a one-copy density in both patients. From the 2q library, 15 (17%) of the 88 pUC clones obtained were unique sequences. When a phage library was screened, 8 clones were obtained: 4 were identical and 2 were overlapping sequences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

两个人组蛋白H1基因的亚克隆和它们启动子核苷酸顺序的比较

从人基因库中分离得到的两个含有不同变种组蛋白H_1基因的λ克隆(λHh8和λHh9),分别把它们含有该基因的片段(8c和9a)插入载体puc8质粒中,得到了亚克隆pHh8c和pHh9a。对这两个人组蛋白H_1基因的启动子(Promoter)和部份编码蛋白质的区域作了核苷酸顺序的分析和比较,确定了它们的启动要素和同系顺序。     

Dielectric relaxation measurements of 12 kbp plasmid DNA

The dielectric properties of 12 kbp plasmid DNA have been measured as a function of temperature in the range 5 degrees C to 40 degrees C. Time domain reflectometry was used to obtain dielectric data over the frequency range from 200 kHz to 3 GHz. Values of the frequency dependent polarisability per DNA macromolecule have been determined from the measurements. Possible mechanisms that could account for the dielectric dispersion are also discussed, in particular the counterion fluctuation model of Manning-Mandel-Oosawa.     

Dielectric behavior of DNA-proflavine complex

The dielectric relaxation of namtive DNA and DNA–proflavine complexes at different DNA phosphate (P) to dye (D) ratios, were investigated in the frequency range 100 c/sec to 100 Kc/sec. The proflavine molecules were found to have a profound effect on the static dielectric constant and the relaxation time of the polymers. The static dielectric constant was oberserved to decrese with increasing level of added proflavine. At P/D = 1, the variation of dielectric constant with frequency was small. Relaxation time (τ) was greater for the DNA–proflavine complexes compared to that for free DNA, Maximum value of the relaxation time was obtained at P/D = 10. The increase in the relaxation time and decrease in the static dielectric constant were attributed to the increase in length and meutralization of surface charges of the DNA molecules, respectively, as aresult of proflavine binding.     

Does DNA absorb microwave energy?

The microwave absorption of chicken erythrocytes and E. coli DNA aqueous solutions was studied in the 9–12-GHz frequency range by the method of variable thickness. At the same frequencies, fragments of sonicated erythrocyte DNA (average size about 500 base pairs) and of E. coli DNA treated with DNase (most of which were 800–2800 base pairs) were investigated. In neither case was any effect of enhanced microwave absorption by DNA observed. It was shown that an excess absorption of DNA solution falls within the 1% experimental error range, provided the conductivity contribution of 1% MgCl₂, required for DNase action, to the microwave absorption is taken into account.     

The transformation of legionellae by plasmid DNA

For the first time the possibility of the genetic transformation of L. pneumophila and L. bozemanii strains with the use of purified DNA of plasmids pUC19, pUC4K, pSC101 and RSF1010-pBR322 was shown. The frequency of transformation varied from 5.2 x 10(-6) to 5.8 x 10(-7), depending on the strain used in the experiment and plasmid DNA. In some of the transformants obtained in this investigation plasmid DNA whose molecular weight was similar to that of the plasmid DNA used for transformation was detected. The relatively stable preservation of plasmids pSC101 and RSF1010 in Legionella strains and the loss of plasmids pUC19, pUC4K and pBR322 in 80% of transformants during storage were shown.     

Effect of spatial inhomogeneity in dielectric permittivity on DNA double layer formation

In solutions of tetramethylammonium (TMA+) DNA (double stranded) without added low-molecular-weight salt, the counterion radial density is calculated using the cylindrical Poisson-Boltzmann equation with a distance-dependent quasimacroscopic dielectric permittivity. Comparisons with small-angle neutron scattering data indicate that any inhomogeneity in dielectric permittivity is confined to one or two solvent layers from the DNA surface. At least for TMA+, which may be too large to penetrate the grooves of DNA to any significant extent, dielectric inhomogeneity modeled in this way has no detectable effect on the radial distribution.     

Temperature dependence of DNA dielectric dispersion at radiofrequency

We have studied the dielectric behavior of DNA aqueous solutions at various ionic strengths and in the presence of the specific DNA ligand ethidium bromide, in the frequency range 1 MHz-1 GHz, at different temperatures ranging from 5 to 40 degrees C. The activation enthalpies of the dielectric relaxations studied were obtained by Arrhenius plots of In(tau T)-1 vs. T-1. The results are consistent with a counterion fluctuation model as previously developed by Mandel and colleagues.     

Tn4560在圈卷产色链霉菌中的转座及其在尼可霉素生物合成相关基因克隆中的应用

采用常规转化方法用来自天蓝色链霉菌J1 5 0 1的质粒pUC1 1 6 9(pMT6 6 0∷Tn45 5 6∷vph)多次转化尼可霉素产生菌圈卷产色链霉菌野生型 71 0 0的原生质体 ,均未得到转化子。采用限制性热衰减法于 5 0℃ ,3 0min溶菌制备 71 0 0的原生质体 ,获得了转化子 ,但转化频率极低 ,只有 0 4个转化子 μgDNA。用来自 71 0 0的pUC1 1 6 9再转化不含pUC1 1 6 9的 71 0 0原生质体 ,转化频率提高 1 0 3 ～ 1 0 4 倍。于 3 9℃ ,MM Vio条件下培养携带有pUC1 1 6 9的 71 0 0孢子 ,Tn45 6 0发生转座 ,筛选到 40 6 8个转座菌落 ,并从中得到 8株尼可霉素阻断突变株 ;对这 8株突变株的总DNA进行Southern杂交分析表明 ,Tn45 6 0至少在 4个不同的位点插入到 71 0 0的染色体上。用实验室已获得的与尼可霉素生物合成有关的 3 0kbDNA片段为探针和经不同酶切的 8株突变株的总DNA进行Southern杂交 ,结果表明 ,除阻断突变株Nik5有杂交信号且杂交信号大小均同野生型…     

Visualization of the cruciform structure of superhelical DNA by use of atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy was used to visualize the cruciform structure in supercoiled plasmid pUC8 DNA immobilized on aminomodified mica. The cruciform hairpin was 14 base pairs in size, as determined from atomic force microscopy images of pUC8 DNA in air. Molecular modeling confirmed that the cruciform structure is formed by hairpins with self-complementary homopyrimidine-homopurine sequences (dT)8(dA)6 and a loop 4 nucleotides long.     

Microwave dielectric absorption of DNA in aqueous solution

The dielectric properties of aqueous solutions of DNA were measured at frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 12 GHz. The results are analyzed using the Maxwell mixture theory and yield a value for the hydration of the DNA of about 0.4 g/g, which is in the range observed in other investigations. No evidence was found for an additional absorption effect at microwave frequencies, which has been predicted to occur in certain DNA analogs due to the vibrational excitation of the double helix by the applied microwave field.     

Microwave absorption of DNA between 8 and 12 GHz

The microwave absorption of aqueous solutions of DNA extracted from E. coli has been studied between 8 and 12 GHz by the use of an optical heterodyne technique. By measuring optically the temperature rise produced in an absorbing sample by pulsed microwave radiation, unambiguous, direct measurement of the microwave absorption is possible. Our results show that E. coli DNA absorbs microwaves in the 8–12-GHz region substantially more efficiently than water, which is itself an extremely efficient absorber. The observed absorption is featureless and decreases slightly with increasing frequency. These observations are consistent with an explanation involving direct absorption by longitudinal acoustic modes of the double helix.     

Dielectrical study of thermal transformation in Na DNA solutions

A dielectric method is presented to measure the ejection of counterion during the thermal fusion of Na DNA solutions. The dielectric conductivity behavior at fixed frequency versus temperature is a measure of the molar concentration of counterfoils formed from the macromolecules. A linear dependence between Na⁺ cations released and DNA concentration was verified. We consider the variation of sodium activity coefficient Δ during thermal transconformation to be in good agreement with other experimental data.     

Effect of ions on counterion fluctuation in low-molecular weight DNA dielectric dispersions

The dielectric permittivity of aqueous solutions of low-molecular weight DNA (Mr = 3.2 X 10(5) ) in the presence of MgCl2 and AgNO3 has been measured in the frequency range from 5 kHz to 30 MHz, at a temperature of 25 degrees C. The DNA concentration was 3.5 X 10(-4) M in terms of phosphate and the salt concentration was varied from 1 X 10(-5) to 2 X 10(-4) M. The dielectric results have been analyzed in terms of two contiguous dielectric dispersions, and characteristic parameters have been discussed on the basis of polyelectrolyte theories which deal with counterion fluctuation. Some molecular parameters of the DNA molecule in electrolyte solutions are estimated.     

Preliminary dielectric measurement and analysis protocol for determining the melting temperature and binding energy of short sequences of DNA in solution

Measurement of the real dielectric constant of bulk buffer solutions containing short sequences of DNA as a function of temperature through the DNA melting or denaturiztion transition can be used to determine melting temperatures, T(m), and to estimate the binding energy of the complimentary strands. We describe a preliminary dielectric measurement and analysis protocol to determine these parameters and its application to two known short sequences. The relative real dielectric constant for the bulk solutions was determined over the frequency range of 50 Hz-20 kHz and temperature range of <40-65 degrees C. The measurements were performed on dilute solutions and utilized low electric field strengths. Based on fits to the data by modified sigmoid functions, the melting temperatures, width of transition, and binding energy for the two sequences in solution were estimated. It was observed that the order of the transition appeared to be second order. The results were then compared against predictions of a number of models from the literature that provide theoretical estimates for the melting temperatures of known short sequences of DNA.