Divalent metal ion effect on helix-coil transition of high molecular weight DNA in neutral and alkaline solutions

Abstract Effect of Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cd 2+ ions on parameters of DNA helix–coil transition in sodium cacodylate (pH 6.5), Tris (pH 8.5) and sodium tetraborate (pH 9.0) buffers have been studied by differential UV–visible spectroscopy and by thermal denaturation. Anomalous behavior of the melting temperature T m and the melting interval Δ T in the presence of MgCl 2 was observed in Tris, but not in cacodylate or tetraborate buffers. Changes in the buffer type and pH did not influence T m and Δ T dependence on Ca 2+ and Cd 2+ concentrations. Decrease of the T m and Δ T of DNA in the presence of Ni 2+ and Cd 2+ was caused by preferential ion interaction with N7 of guanine. This type of interaction was also found for Mg 2+ in Tris buffer. The anomalous decrease in the T m and Δ T values was connected to formation of complexes between metal ions and Tris molecules. Transition of DNA single-stranded regions into a compact form with the effective radius of the particles of 300 ± 100 A was induced by Mg 2+ ions in Tris buffer.