Figure 23.3.2.10

Dickerson, R. E.

doi:10.1107/97809553602060000716

International
Tables for
Crystallography
Volume F
Crystallography of biological macromolecules
Edited by M. G. Rossmann and E. Arnold

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International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. F. ch. 23.3, p. 595 | 1 | 2 |

Figure 23.3.2.10

R. E. Dickerson^a ^*

^a Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1570, USA
Correspondence e-mail: red@mbi.ucla.edu

Figure 23.3.2.10

Definitions of local reference axes (x, y, z) at the first two base pairs of an n-base-pair double helix. Base 1 is paired with base 2n, base 2 with base 2n − 1 etc. Shaded corners represent attachment points to sugar rings. Curved arrows denote 5′-to-3′ `positive' directions of each backbone chain. Note that when looking into the minor groove, as here, the two strands illustrate a clockwise rotation, upwards on the left and downwards on the right. This is true for A- and B-DNA, but for Z-DNA, the sense of the two backbone strands is reversed.