Calculating the Secrets of Life Contributions of the Mathematical Sciences to Molecular Biology (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 207-211
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From page 207... ...
The entangled form of the product DNA knots and links contains information about the enzymes that made them. Mathematics is required to extract mechanism information from the topological structure of the reaction products.
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From page 208... ...
, together with the enzyme itself, the synaptic complex. The electron micrograph in Figure 8.2 shows a synaptic complex formed by the recombination enzyme Tn3 resolvase when reacted with unknotted circular duplex DNA.
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From page 209... ...
. In processive recombination on a circular substrate with direct repeats, the products of an odd number of rounds of processive recombination are DNA links, and the products of an even number of rounds of processive recombination are DNA knots.
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From page 210... ...
The geometry and topology of the recombination reaction products are observables. In vitro experiments usually proceed as follows: Circular substrate is prepared, with all of the substrate molecules representing the same knot type (usually the unknot, that is, a curve without knots)
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From page 211... ...
The DNA sample is placed at the top of a gel column, and similar molecules migrate through the gel with similar velocities, forming discrete DNA bands in the gel when the electric field is turned off. Normally, gel electrophoresis discriminates among DNA molecules on the basis of molecular weight; given that all molecules are the same molecular weight (as is the case in these topological enzymology experiments)
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