Nucleic magnesium form

Robinson, H., Gao, Y. G., Sanishvili, R., Joachimiak, A., and Wang, A. H. J. (2000). Hexahydrated magnesium ions bind in the deep major groove and at the outer mouth of A-form nucleic acid duplexes. Nucleic Acids Res. 28, 1760—1766. 

As with other analytical platforms, there are some drawbacks associated with the use of MALDI-TOF MS for DNA analysis. Nucleic acids are susceptible to adduct formation and fragmentation. Their negatively charged backbone makes them behave as polyanions in aqueous solutions. In the presence of cations they tend to form adducts. Most enzymes used in biochemical assays require cations as co-factors, and the predominant ones are sodium (23 Da), magnesium (24 Da), and potassium (39 Da). For example, a sodium ion would add 22 Da to the mass of the analyte, since it would replace a proton (1 Da). Therefore, if adducts are not removed prior to analysis, a distribution of several signals may be obtained, resulting in lower... 

Single-stranded nucleic acids can adopt structures more complex than simple stem-loops through the interaction of more widely separated bases. Often, three or more bases may interact to stabilize these structures. In such cases, hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors that do not participate in Watson=Crick base pairs may participate in hydrogen bonds to form non-standard pairings. Metal ions such as magnesium ion (Mg" ) often assist in the stabilization of these more elaborate structures. These complex structures allow RNA to perform a host of functions that the double-... 

Thus the primitive ocean must have steadily increased in organic content. These substances would have interacted with one another to form a whole range of new substances. The surface of the rocks and clays of the beds of the shallow seas, containing iron, magnesium, and copper, would have provided catalytic surfaces on which the organic substances would have begun to collect and to polymerize. As a result, short-chain peptides and nucleic acids, and possibly carbohydrates as well, would also have begun to accumulate, both bound on to mineral surfaces and free in solution in the seas. 

Most phosphorus associated with cereal grains exists in the form of phytic acid (myoinositol hexaphosphate) that is stored in phytic bodies mainly loeated in the aleurone layer. These molecules bind potassium, magnesium, and other minerals. The phytases degrade these compounds to release phosphate, other minerals, and myoinositol. The myoinositol is a known precursor of sugars associated with cell wall polysaccharides and a promoter of seedling growth. The free phosphorus is critically important for synthesis of nucleic acids and phospholipids for cellular membrane proliferation, and ATP and energy production. 

H. Robinson, Y.-G. Gao, R. Sanishvili, A. Joachimiak, and A. H. J. Wang, Nucleic Acids Res., 28,1760 (2000). Hexahydrated Magnesium Ions Bind in the Deep Major Groove and at the Outer Mouth of A-Form Nucleic Acid Duplexes. 

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