Abstract
Films of highly oriented Na- and LiDNA showing the typical X-ray diffraction patterns for the A-,B-, and C-conformation have been investigated by elastic and quasielastic neutron scattering. Information concerning the question of the DNA-water interaction has been obtained by varying the parameters H2O/D2O contrast, humidity, and temperature. Main observations are: A coexistence of one- and three-dimensionally correlated DNA which shifts towards the one-dimensionally correlated C-conformation for high humidity; a coexistence of A-, B-, and C-conformation for NaDNA with a similar humidity dependence; a factor of two increase between the average degree of localization of water hydrogens compared with DNA hydrogens at 75% r.h. for NaDNA; a strong water contribution to layer peaks which are close to the susceptibility maximum of water; a strong temperature dependence of the axial repeat distance for C-DNA; broad quasielastic spectra around the inverse of this distance. The observations are interpreted in terms of a competition between finite three-dimensional correlation and an optimized spatial resonance of nearly one-dimensionally correlated DNA with the correlation of bulk water. The observations are compatible with the concept of water spine formation (Dickerson 1983). The interpretation emphasizes the dynamic character of this mechanism in the region of nearly one-dimensionally correlated DNA.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnott S, Hukins DWL (1972) Optimised parameters for A-DNA and B-DNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 47:1504–1509
Arnott S, Selsing E (1975) The conformation of C-DNA. J Mol Biol 98:265–269
Axe JD (1980) Fluctuations and freezing in a one-dimensional liquid: Hg3-δAsF6. In: Riste T (ed) Ordering in strongly fluctuating condensed matter systems. Plenum Press, New York, pp 399–414
Bacon GE (1975) Neutron diffraction. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Brandes R, Vold RR, Kearns DR, Rupprecht A (1988) A 2H-NMR study of the A-DNA conformation in films of oriented Na-DNA: Evidence of a disordered B-DNA contribution. Biopolymers 27:1159–1170
Cochran W, Crick FHC, Vand V (1952) The structure of synthetic polypeptides. I. The transform of atoms on a helix. Acta Crystallogr 5:581–586
Cooper PJ, Hamilton LD (1966) The A-B conformational change in the sodium salt of DNA. J Mol Biol 16:562–563
Dahlborg U, Rupprecht A (1971) Hydration of DNA:A neutron scattering study of oriented NaDNA. Biopolymers 10: 849–863
Dahlborg U, Dimic V, Rupprecht A (1980) Study on the hydration of oriented DNA by the neutron scattering technique. Phys Scr 22:179–187
Demarco C, Lindsay SM, Pokorny M, Powell J, Rupprecht A (1985) Interhelical effects on the low-frequency modes and phase transitions of Li- and Na-DNA. Biopolymers 24:2035–2040
Dickerson RE (1983) The DNA helix and how it is read. Sci Am 249:86–103
Edwards GS, Genzel L, Peticolas WL, Rupprecht A (1986) Measurements of a large anisotropy in the swelling of oriented DNA films in aqueous solution. Biopolymers 25:223–227
Falk M, Hartmann KA Jr, Lord RC (1963) Hydration of deoxyribonucleic acid. I. A gravimetric study. J Am Chem Soc 84:3843–3846
Falk M, Hartmann KA Jr, Lord RC (1963) Hydration of deoxyribonucleic acid. II. An infrared study. J Am Chem Soc 85:387–394
Franklin RE, Gosling RG (1953) The structure of sodium thymonucleate fibers. II. The cylindrically symmetrical Patterson function. Acta Crystallogr 6:678–685
Franks F (1972) Water—A comprehensive treatise. The physics and physical chemistry of water, vol. 1. Plenum Press, New York London, p 349
Fuller W, Wilkins MHF, Wilson HR, Hamilton LD (1965) The molecular configuration of deoxyribonucleic acid. IV. X-ray diffraction study of the A form. J Mol Biol 12:60–80
Fuller W, Forsyth VT, Mahendrasingam A, Pigram WJ, Greenall RJ, Langan P, Bellamy K, Al-Hayalee Y, Mason SA (1989) The location of water around the DNA double-helix. Physica B 156 & 157:468–470
Grimm H, Stiller H, Majkrzak CF, Rupprecht A, Dahlborg U (1987) Observation of acoustic umklapp phonons in waterstabilized DNA by neutron scattering. Phys Rev Lett 59:1780–1783
Grimm H, Stiller H, Majkrzak CF, Rupprecht A (1989) Neutron scattering study of the hydration hull of DNA by H2O/D2O-exchange. Physica B 156 & 157:464–467
Kopka ML, Fratini AV, Drew HR, Dickerson RE (1983) Ordered water structure around a B-DNA dodecamer. A quantitative study. J Mol Biol 163:129–146
Langridge R, Marvin DA, Seeds WE, Wilson HR, Hooper CW, Wilkins MHF, Hamilton LD (1960) The molecular configuration of deoxyribonucleic acid. II. Molecular models and their Fourier transforms. J Mol Biol 2:38–64
Marvin DA, Spencer M, Wilkins MHF, Hamilton LD (1961) The molecular configuration of deoxyribonucleic acid. III. X-ray diffraction study of the C-form of the lithium salt. J Mol Biol 3:547–565
Mikeska HJ (1973) Phonon peaks in the dynamic structure factor of lattices without long range order. Solid State Commun 13:73–76
Rupprecht A (1966) Preparation of oriented DNA by wet spinning. Acta Chem Scand 20:494–504
Saenger W, Hunter WN, Kennard O (1986) DNA conformation is determined by economics in the hydration of phosphate groups. Nature 324:385–388
Schreiner LJ, Pintar MM, Dianoux AJ, Volino F, Rupprecht A (1988) Hydration of NaDNA by neutron quasi-elastic scattering. Biophys J 53:119–122
Vineyard GH (1954) Multiple scattering of neutrons. Phys Rev 96:93–98
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grimm, H., Rupprecht, A. Hydration structure in natural DNA observed by thermal neutron scattering. Eur Biophys J 17, 173–186 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284723
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284723