Cy3 and Cy5 dyes terminally attached to 5'C end of DNA: structure, dynamics, and energetics.

Cy3 and Cy5 cyanine dyes terminally attached to the 5'C end (C1) of the DNA oligonucleotide were studied by metadynamics (MTD), molecular dynamics (MD), and density-functional methods with dispersion corrections (DFT-D). MTD simulations explored the free energy surface (FES) of the dye-DNA interactions, which included stacking and major groove binding motifs and unstacked structures. Dynamics of the stacked structures was studied by the MD simulations.

An integrated study of photochemical function and expression of a key photochemical gene (psbA) in photosynthetic communities of Lake Bonney (McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica).

Lake Bonney is one of several permanently ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, which maintain the only year-round biological activity on the Antarctic continent. Vertically stratified populations of autotrophic microorganisms occupying the water columns are adapted to numerous extreme conditions, including very low light, hypersalinity, ultra-oligotrophy and low temperatures. In this study, we integrated molecular biology, microscopy, flow cytometry, and functional photochemical analyses of the photosynthetic communities residing in the east and west basins of dry valley Lake Bonney.