1. digitalbio
  2. It's still a DNA puzzle, but this is the answer

It's still a DNA puzzle, but this is the answer

By sporte on July 13, 2007.

i-dc4398c754d67d54c86378e8729b36bc-parallel_DNA.gifAlthough, I didn't believe it when I first saw it. With all the years that I've heard (or taught) that all DNA is antiparallel, it was hard to believe my eyes.

Yet here is parallel DNA, with both strands oriented in the same direction, right here on your monitor. And the commenters were correct.

tags: , , ,

The image that I posted a couple of days ago was made from part of this same structure. In that image, I hid the rest of the bases to make it easier to see why this structure is so strange.

Here are two images that show the landmarks a bit better. I hid the hydrogens and used different rendering styles to emphasize key features in the sugar phosphate backbone.

i-9c2dd75f8373943f6faa899088868c10-5'end.gif

i-79ccc012cca735de3ae291b1e828cc63-3'end.gifPart of the mystery is what the people who deposited this structure were trying to do in the first place and why they synthesized this molecule. Unfortunately, the article that's referenced in the database is in a journal that's not indexed by PubMed or Google and there isn't a PubMed Central reference.

We're left to wonder.

But if you want to find out, and you have access to a good library, the reference is below.


Reference
Venkitakrishnan,R.P. et. al. 2004. A Parallel Stranded Dna Duplex With An A-G Mismatch Base-Pair:
(Ccataatttacc:cctatgaaatcc). Recent Trends In Biophys.Res., 1

Tags
bioinformatics
molecular structures
Science Education

More like this

It's still a DNA puzzle, but this is the answer
Although, I certainly didn't believe it. Truly in nature, it can be described as nonpareil. With all the years that I've heard (or taught) that all DNA is antiparallel, it was hard to believe my own eyes when I saw this structure. Yet here is, on the screen, parallel DNA. The image that I posted a…
Digital Biology Friday: Rainbows, Models, and DNA
Today, we're going to look for rainbows in double-stranded DNA and see what they can tell us about DNA structure. First, we're going to get a structure for a double-stranded molecule of DNA and open it in Cn3D. 1K9L If you want to do this at home and you haven't already downloaded a copy of…
Making DNA art for DNA Day 2015
National DNA Day has a fun challenge for teachers and classrooms using Pinterest.  Your class can join a larger, national, effort to create a National DNA Day Pinterest board by making your own class Pinterest board on DNA, genetics, and genomics.  Some possible topics are: Things to do with DNA…
Protein Synthesis: Transcription and Translation
Here is the third BIO101 lecture (from May 08, 2006). Again, I'd appreciate comments on the correctness as well as suggestions for improvement. --------------------------------------------------BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 1 - Part 3 The DNA code DNA is a long double-stranded molecule residing…

While you're on the subject of weird DNA structures, don't forget 3- and 4-stranded DNA.

I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT I HAVE PARALLEL DNA. WHERE CAN I FIND MORE ABOUT THIS TYPE AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN. I COME FROM EASTERN EUROPE. JERRY

By GERALD T. CAPAK (not verified) on 15 Sep 2007 #permalink

Hi Jerry,

Rest assured you do NOT have parallel DNA. Your DNA is anti-parallel, which means that the two strands are oriented in opposite directions.

This DNA in the picture was made in the laboratory, not in a biological system.

The "parallelness" of nucleic acids is not new at all and dates way back to Rich, Davies, Watson & Crick. (low pH structure of poly A). In the late 80's and early 90's there were a spate of papers describing parallel stranded unmodified DNA and normal solution conditions. (see also the 1988 Science paper).
...... and of course anytime you have 3 or more strands 2 of them will be parallel.

By Markus Germann (not verified) on 20 Apr 2009 #permalink