Coadsorption of guanine and cytosine on graphite: ordered structure based on GC pairing

Nano Lett. 2006 Jul;6(7):1434-8. doi: 10.1021/nl060563u.

Abstract

Nanostructures formed by coadsorption of the complementary DNA bases guanine (G) and cytosine (C) at a graphite surface in 1-octanol solvent were investigated by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. The high-resolution observations showed for the first time a well-ordered coadsorption structure, attributed to rows formed from Watson-Crick G-C pairs, which was distinctly different from the structures observed for the individual G/C components. The observed coadsorption structure has been modeled by self-consistent charge density-functional-based tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) calculations, providing information on the intermolecular interactions underlying its formation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Base Pairing*
  • Cytosine / chemistry*
  • DNA / chemistry
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Guanine / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling
  • Nanostructures

Substances

  • Guanine
  • Graphite
  • Cytosine
  • DNA