DIAMOD: display and modeling of DNA bending

Motivation: DIAMOD (Display and modeling of DNA) was created as a user-friendly software for exploring and better understanding DNA structural variations, particularly DNA bel?cling. It was intended to be as open as possible so that ally of the existing or future predictive models can be used with it. Results: DIAMOD features graphic display and interactive manipulation of DNA molecules on the screen. Since it works with di-, tri- or tetranucleotide models supplied as external files of angular parameters, it was recently used to evaluate critically all available predictive models for DNA bending. The program has a unique option to insert bends at defined positions in DNA sequence independently of the cull-entry used model, which enables the simulation of both intrinsic and protein-induced kinking. Finally, many output file formats facilitate the sharing of data with other programs and the creation of visually pleasing images.