Article
 

Time dependence of triplet-singlet excitation transfer from compact poly rA to bound dye at 77 K

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/gf06g315v

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • The nonexponential phosphorescence decay of a highly folded form of poly-riboadenylic acid (poly rA) with noncovalently bound dye is explained by a novel application of a well-known theory of electronic excitation transfer based on the Förster mechanism. This theory, originally used to describe singlet-singlet energy transfer from donor molecules to an acceptor in a solution, is here applied to the transfer of triplet excitation from the adenine (in poly rA) to the singlet manifold of either of the bound dyes, ethidium bromide or proflavine. New experimental data are presented that allow straight-forward theoretical interpretation. These data fit the form predicted by the theory, U(t) exp (-Bt[superscript 1/2]), where U(t) is the decay of the poly rA phosphorescence in the absence of dye, for a range of relative concentrations of either dye. The self-consistency of these theoretical fits is demonstrated by the proportionality of B to the square root of the Förster triplet-singlet overlap integrals for transfer from poly rA to each of the dyes, as demanded by the theory. From these self-consistent values of B, the theory enables one to deduce the mean packing density of nucleotides in this folded poly rA, which we estimate to be approximately ~ 1 nm⁻³. We conclude that some variations of the method described here may be useful for deducing packing densities of nucleotides in other compact nucleic acid structures.
  • This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by The Biophysical Society and published by Cell Press/Elsevier. It can be found at: http://www.cell.com/biophysj/
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Pearlstein, R. M., Van Nostrand, F., & Nairn, J. A. (1979). Time dependence of triplet-singlet excitation transfer from compact poly rA to bound dye at 77 K. Biophysical Journal, 26(1), 61-71. doi:10.1016/S0006-3495(79)85235-2
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 26
Journal Issue/Number
  • 1
Academic Affiliation
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • Our research was sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation.
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items