摘要
DNA is generally assumed as a right-handed double helix and Z-DNA is a special kind of left-handed DNA infrequently found in nature. However, the finding of a zero linking number topoisomer supports a hypothesis that the two strands of DNA are winding ambidextrously, rather than plectonemically. It logically leads to a notion that the left-handed DNA is as common as right-handed DNA and the amount of left-handed DNA in a positively supercoiled plasmid prevails that of the right-handed DNA. In this report, the helical repeat of left-handed DNA, 12 bp per turn, was determined by a new method. How the positively supercoiled DNA was generated in hyperthermophiles and why their DNA can withstand the extreme high temperature are answered from an alternative theory.
DNA is generally assumed as a right-handed double helix and Z-DNA is a special kind of left-handed DNA infrequently found in nature. However, the finding of a zero linking number topoisomer supports a hypothesis that the two strands of DNA are winding ambidextrously, rather than plectonemically. It logically leads to a notion that the left-handed DNA is as common as right-handed DNA and the amount of left-handed DNA in a positively supercoiled plasmid prevails that of the right-handed DNA. In this report, the helical repeat of left-handed DNA, 12 bp per turn, was determined by a new method. How the positively supercoiled DNA was generated in hyperthermophiles and why their DNA can withstand the extreme high temperature are answered from an alternative theory.
