The Conformation of Nucleic Acids

约翰逊博士正在继续他的工作，利用圆二色（CD）光谱法测定溶液中生物聚合物的二级结构。CD是一种监测光活性生物分子二级结构的优良技术。它对最邻近的发色团的取向非常敏感，当这些分子在溶液中时可以使用。它还计划在不久的将来广泛使用二维核磁共振。本研究的重点是解决当前感兴趣的涉及核酸的结构问题。研制了一种专用的CD光谱仪，可以在真空紫外区进行测量。该区域含有丰富的大分子结构和构象信息。约翰逊博士还将致力于改进CD理论，以便大分子的光谱可以与其结构和构象直接相关。

Dr. Johnson is continuing his work on the determination of the secondary structure of biological polymers in solution using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. CD is an excellent technique for monitoring the secondary structure of optically active biological molecules. It is very sensitive to the orientation of nearest neighbor chromophores and it can be used when these molecules are in solution. It is also planned to make extensive use of 2D NMR in the near future. The focus of this research is to solve structural problems of current interest which involve nucleic acids. A special CD spectrometer has been developed on which measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet region can be made. This region is rich in information about the structure and conformation of macromolecules. Dr. Johnson will also work on improving the theory of CD so that the spectrum of a macromolecule can be directly related to its structure and conformation.