EFFORTS TOWARD THE EXPANSION OF THE GENETIC ALPHABET

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We designed novel unnatural base pairs lacking Watson-Crick H-bonds and examined both their stability in DNA and their replication by DNA polymerases for an expanded genetic alphabet. We found that BFR and FB, which are benzofuran and fluorobenzene analogs, respectively, are good candidates of a third base pair. To understand and improve these unnatural base pairs, we are trying to solve the DNA structures. These studies are expected to provide unique insights into nucleic acid biochemistry.