Biochemistry - Chemical Reactions in Living Cells, Volume 3 - D. Metzler 1980

Biochemical Genetics and the Synthesis of Nucleic Acids and Proteins
DNA Replication
Denaturation Maps

The process of METABOLISM/36.html">DNA Replication in phages and in mouse Cell Mitochondria was investigated by Electron Microscopy using Denaturation loops as markers. These loops represent small regions of DNA that denature during the preparation of specimens for electron microscopic examination. It is possible that these DNA loops are formed in regions with a low GC base pair content or in areas that, for other reasons, exhibit reduced stability compared to the rest of the DNA. The loops somewhat resemble heteroduplexes (Section D, 8, c), although they arise through a different mechanism. In circular Mitochondrial DNA from the mouse, two such loops can be observed, separated by approximately 180° and differing from each other. Using these loops as markers made it possible to trace the Direction of replication. Currently, this method is widely used.



Last update: 06/08/2026

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