Lithium ion induced stabilization of the liquid crystalline DNA
| Autor: | Neethu, Sundaresan, Thresia, Thomas, Thekkumkat John, Thomas, Chennakkattu Krishna Sadasivan, Pillai, Chennakkatu Krishna Saolashiuan, Pillai |
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| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
Polymers and Plastics
Stereochemistry chemistry.chemical_element Bioengineering Lithium Biomaterials Liquid crystal Cations Materials Chemistry Molecule Animals chemistry.chemical_classification Polarized light microscopy Aqueous solution Chemistry DNA Liquid Crystals Crystallography Ionic strength Anisotropy Cattle Microscopy Polarization Counterion Columnar phase Biotechnology |
| Zdroj: | Macromolecular bioscience. 6(1) |
| ISSN: | 1616-5187 |
| Popis: | A comparative study of the effects of alkali metal ions Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), and Cs(+) on the liquid crystalline organization of high-molecular-weight calf thymus DNA using polarized light microscopy was performed. Major differences in the behavior of Li(+) as compared to the other ions were found. Critical DNA concentration expected to exhibit anisotropic behavior was found to be the same for all the monovalent ions, except for Li(+). DNA initially showed cholesteric textures, which later changed to higher ordered columnar phase for all ions, with the cholesteric-columnar transition facilitated upon increasing the size of the counterion. For Li(+) ion, a nematic schlieren-like texture was formed initially, which after a few days changed to a highly stable (for more than 2 months) biphasic cholesteric-columnar arrangement. The observed differences between Li(+) and other alkali metal ions could be rationalized on the basis of the higher number of hydration water molecules of Li(+) and its complexation behavior. Highly stable DNA mesophases may find applications in the field of nanoelectronics, in designing biosensing units, and in DNA chips. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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