Effect of the crystallizing agent 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol on the structure of adenine tract DNA in solution.

The hydroxyl radical cleavage pattern of bent DNA containing phased adenine tracts has a sinusoidal pattern. Changes in the cleavage pattern of the sequence A5N5 in the presence of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) demonstrate that MPD has an effect on the structure of a bent A-tract region of DNA. The effect of MPD on DNA structure appears to be limited to bent A-tract regions, as we find no significant changes in the cleavage pattern of flanking regions, mixed-sequence DNA, or the unbent A-tract sequence T4A4N2.