The Ultraviolet Photochemistry of Nucleic Acids and Their Components

Oxidation of Ribose Moiety of Adenosine Induced by Irradiation of Near‐uv Light in the Presence of Iron(iii) Chloride

“…The effects of near-UV irradiation on D N A and R N A have been actively studied both in vivo and in vitro (Davies, 1980). To test the physiological meaning of the above finding, we carried out the same reaction at higher pH.…”

“…Photochemistry of nucleic acids and their components has been the subject of intense studies for a long time (Rapport and Canzanelli, 1950;Davies, 1980;Saito et al, 1983). Most of the studies are as to the photoreactivities of base moieties of nucleic acids, but only a little attention has been paid for the photoreactivities of sugar moieties.…”

Repair of phage DNA damaged by near ultraviolet light plus 8-methoxypsoralen

“…Next, in the presence of a near ultraviolet (NUV) photon, a covalent monoadduct forms between MOP and a DNA base. This base is usually thymine although photoadducts have been reported with cytosine and purines (Davies, 1980;Calvin & Hanawalt, 1987). Exposure of the monoadduct to a second photon of NUV produces a covalently bound adduct with another base in the complementary DNA strand.…”

“…Despite extensive studies on repair of PUVA-damaged DNA, particularly in E. coli * Author for correspondence. Fax +44 1602 486636. e-mail LIF3AHMADSI@NTU and in yeast, its exact mechanism is not yet clear (Demple & Harrison, 1994;Smith, 1988). In E. coli the uvrA, B, C, uvrD, recA and polA gene products have been implicated in the repair process.…”

The Photoreactions of Thymine with Hypoxanthine and Imidazole

“…Thymine photodimerization has been subjected to extensive studies as the dimers account for most of photobiological effects observed upon UV irradiation of cells [1,2], Dimers are not the only cyclobutane-type products of thymine. Simple alkenes, vinyl esters and ethers [1], alkynes [3], acetylenic esters [4], coumarins and psoralens [5] when undergo photoaddition to pyrimidines give cyclobutanes as well.…”