The scanning force microscopy of DNA in air and in n‐propanol using new spreading agents
- 21 November 1994
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in FEBS Letters
- Vol. 355 (1), 91-95
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-5793(94)01166-4
Abstract
We present recent advances in DNA specimen preparation technique for scanning force microscopy (SFM) based on spreading on mica in the presence of cationic and non-ionic detergents. Reproducible DNA imaging in air and in n-propanol has been achieved in the presence of the non-ionic detergent 2,4,6-tris(dimethylaminomethyl) phenol (DMP-30) or the cationic detergent cetylpyridinium chloride (CP) in a microdrop containing nanograms of DNA. In an alternative procedure, a microdrop of detergent is applied to the surface just prior to the DNA. Quantitative image analysis yields as the apparent molecular dimensions of the DNA a width of ∼ 7 nm and a height of ∼ 0.7 nm, and delineates the problems of DNA metrology by SFM.Keywords
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