Some effects of metal ions on DNA structure and genetic information transfer

摘要

The reaction of metal ions with nucleic acids can lead to a variety of dramatic effects on nucleic acid structure, e.g., crosslinking of the polymer strands, degradation to oligomers and monomers, stabilization or destabilization, and the mispairing of bases. These effects have important implications for genetic information transfer. Metal ions are involved in many aspects of this transfer; we are presently concerned with the effect of metal ions on the orientation of the active site of RNA polymerase.