A-DNA is one of the possible double helical structures which DNA can adopt. A-DNA is thought to be one of three biologically active double helical structures along with B-DNA and Z-DNA. It is a right-handed double helix fairly similar to the more common B-DNA form, but with a shorter, more compact helical structure whose base pairs are not perpendicular to the helix-axis as in B-DNA. It was discovered by Rosalind Franklin, who also named the A and B forms. She showed that DNA is driven into the A form when under dehydrating conditions. Such conditions are commonly used to form crystals, and many DNA crystal structures are in the A form. The same helical conformation occurs in double-stranded RNAs, and in DNA-RNA hybrid double helices. <\/p>\n
A-DNA is fairly similar to B-DNA given that it is a right-handed double helix with major and minor grooves. However, as shown in the comparison table below, there is a slight increase in the number of base pairs (bp) per turn (resulting in a smaller twist angle), and smaller rise per base pair (making A-DNA 20-25% shorter than B-DNA). The major groove of A-DNA is deep and narrow, while the minor groove is wide and shallow. <\/p>\n
Dehydration of DNA drives it into the A form, and this apparently protects DNA under conditions such as the extreme desiccation of bacteria.[1] Protein binding can also strip solvent off of DNA and convert it to the A form, as revealed by the structure of a rod-shaped virus.[2] <\/p>\n
It has been proposed that the motors that package double-stranded DNA in bacteriophages exploit the fact that A-DNA is shorter than B-DNA, and that conformational changes in the DNA itself are the source of the large forces generated by these motors.[3] In this model, ATP hydrolysis is used to drive protein conformational changes that alternatively dehydrate and rehydrate the DNA, and the DNA shortening\/lengthening cycle is coupled to a protein-DNA grip\/release cycle to generate the forward motion that moves DNA into the capsid. <\/p>\n
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