Cover. Base opening has been studied using umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations for AT and GC pairs within B-DNA. The image shows the average duplex geometry and the hydration of the disrupted base pairs after 45° opening of guanine (top) and thymine (bottom). 150 ps sampling of the positions of water molecules (shown as spheres with fixed colours) visualizes bridging hydration sites. Note also that only the AT shows strongly coupled opening of both bases. For further information see Giudice et al. in this issue [Nucleic Acids Res. (2003) 31, 1434--1443].
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