Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.123, No.8, 1780-1783, 2019
Structural Modification of DNA Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
In addition to the well-known double-helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), theoretical simulations have predicted structural variants, such as cross and T-shaped formations. The direct visualization of individual DNA molecules by scanning probe microscopy should be able to identify these structures. In this study, we examine various structures of DNA deposited on Au(111) by using an electrospray method and analyzing with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. We could identify in detail several interesting structures. In particular, we found that double-stranded DNAs are partially unraveled into single-stranded DNAs and we confirmed the presence of T-shaped DNA structures.