NUCLEIC ACID REASSOCIATION IN FORMAMIDE

Conditions are described for effecting deoxyribonucleic acid renaturation and deoxyribonucleic acid-ribonucleic acid hybridization in formamide solutions at low temperatures. High specificity and rates of reaction can be achieved by appropriate choice of the formamide and salt concentrations and the temperature. Reaction conditions can be deduced from the relationship between formamide concentration and reduction in the thermal stability: 1% formamide reduces the Tm by 0.72°. These methods are valuable for studies of the prolonged reactions occurring between mammalian nucleic acids. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.