Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is a prerequisite for electrochemical sensor-based detection of parasite DNA and other diagnostic applications. To achieve this detection, an asymmetric polymerase chain reaction method was optimised. This method facilitates amplification of ssDNA from the human lymphatic filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti. This procedure produced ssDNA fragments of 188 bp in a s...

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses have genomes that are potentially capable of forming complex secondary structures through Watson-Crick base pairing between their constituent nucleotides. A few of the structural elements formed by such base pairings are, in fact, known to have important functions during the replication of many ssDNA viruses. Unknown, however, are (i) whether numerous additio...

The generation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) from double-stranded PCR products is an essential step in the selection of aptamers by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Magnetic separation with streptavidin-coated beads is always the most commonly used method. Recently, two size separation methods derived from unequal primers with chemical or structural modificati...

The Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) binds selectively to single-stranded (ss) DNA intermediates during DNA replication, recombination and repair. Each subunit of the homo-tetrameric protein contains a potential ssDNA binding site, thus the protein can bind to ssDNA in multiple binding modes, one of which is the (SSB)(65) mode, in which a 65 nucleotide stretch of ssDNA...

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein (SSB) is an essential protein to protect ssDNA and recruit specific ssDNA-processing proteins. Escherichia coli SSB forms a tetramer at neutral pH, comprising a structurally well-defined ssDNA binding domain (OB-domain) and a disordered C-terminal domain (C-domain) of ∼ 64 amino acid residues. The C-terminal eight-residue segment of SSB (C-peptide) ha...

Replication protein A (RPA) is a three-subunit complex with multiple roles in DNA metabolism. DNA-binding domain A in the large subunit of human RPA (hRPA70A) binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and is responsible for the species-specific RPA-T antigen (T-ag) interaction required for Simian virus 40 replication. Although Saccharomyces cerevisiae RPA70A (scRPA70A) shares high sequence homology ...

Energetics and specificity of interactions between the Escherichia coli PriA helicase and the gapped DNAs have been studied, using the quantitative fluorescence titration and analytical ultracentrifugation methods. The gap complex has a surprisingly low minimum total site size, corresponding to approximately 7 nucleotides of the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), as compared with the site size of app...

Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) play essential roles in DNA replication, recombination, and repair in bacteria and eukarya. We report here the identification and characterization of the SSB of an archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii. The M. jannaschii SSB (mjaSSB) has significant amino acid sequence similarity to the eukaryotic SSB, replication protein A (RPA), and contains four tande...

Site-directed mutagenesis was used to replace His-163 in the Loop 1 region of the recA protein with a tryptophan residue. The [H163W]recA protein binds single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), catalyzes ssDNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis, and is fully active in the three-strand exchange reaction. In addition, the fluorescence properties of the Trp-163 reporter group are very sensitive to the binding of nucleot...

DNA nanotubes were created using molecular self-assembly of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-amphiphiles composed of a hydrophobic dialkyl tail and polycarbon spacer and a hydrophilic ssDNA headgroup. The nanotube structures were formed by bilayers of amphiphiles, with the hydrophobic components forming an inner layer that was shielded from the aqueous solvent by an outer layer of ssDNA. The nanotub...