The action of ionizing radiation on DNA in the presence of quinacrine. III. E.S.R. study: spin transfer in gamma-irradiated lyophilized DNA-quinacrine complexes.

E.S.R. spectra of different DNA-quinacrine complexes show as well at 77 K as at 293 K that there exists an electron transfer from the bases to quinacrine facilitated by the overlap of the theta-orbitals of the bases and the intercalated dye. The transfer range may extend over more than 25 or 50 nucleotides depending on the intercalation model considered.