DNA four-way junctions (also known as Holliday junctions) are the primary structural intermediate during recombination, an important process responsible for biological evolution and maintenance of genomes. These junctions arise from the assembly of four nucleic acid strands to produce double-helical regions extending from a central point. Although much progress has...
The studies presented here use the B- to Z-DNA transition and Z-DNA
crystallization as model systems to determine the contribution of solvent interactions to
macromolecular structures. The substituent groups of naturally occurring and modified
nucleotide bases affect the hydration and thus the stability of right-handed B-DNA and
left-handed Z-DNA. The...