Date of Graduation
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Physics
Advisor/Mentor
Wang, Yong
Committee Member/Reader
Shew, Woodrow
Committee Member/Second Reader
Chen, Jingyi
Committee Member/Third Reader
Dowdle, Andrew
Abstract
Studying DNA interactions is advantageous to developments in the medical field since DNA and its interactions affect our health greatly. In addition, it is important to understand how the bendability of DNA depends on metal ions, which are essential for various fundamental processes in cells. In this work, we investigate the use of FRET and self-assembled bent DNA molecules to quantify DNA interactions with magnesium ions. We measured that the FRET efficiency increased at higher concentrations of magnesium ions. We also ran simulations to further understand the mechanisms. These observations show that magnesium ions increase the stability and flexibility of DNA greatly. Compared to our previous work with gel electrophoresis, the FRET measurements were faster and simpler.
Keywords
FRET, Bent DNA, Magnesium Ions, DNA interactions
Citation
Bullard, K. (2023). The use of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer and Bent DNA to Study DNA and Ion Interactions. Physics Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/physuht/13