A Raman Study of the Time Variability for the A-to-B Transition in Wet-spun Films of Calf-thymus DNA

The time evolution of the A-to-B transition has been monitored by Raman spectroscopy and found to vary significantly for different samples. Though all samples were prepared in the identical fashion, some samples completed the transition on the time scale of several hours while other samples took days. The shortest time required for the A conformation to disappear was about 2 hours, as determined by the disappearance of the A-form Raman band at 807 cm-1. For these fastest transforming samples, the B-form Raman band at 835 cm-1 was clearly evident after about 5 hours. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the A conformation of DNA is stabilized by intermolecular interactions.