The contrasting structures of mismatched DNA sequences containing looped-out bases (bulges) and multiple mismatches (bubbles).

We have studied the structure and reactivities of two kinds of mismatched DNA sequences--unopposed bases, or bulges, and multiple mismatched pairs of bases. These were generated in a constant sequence environment, in relatively long DNA fragments, using a technique based on heteroduplex formation between sequences cloned into single-stranded M13 phage. The mismatched sequences were studied from two points of view, viz 1. The mobility of the fragments on gel electrophoresis in polyacrylamide was studied in order to examine possible bending of the DNA due to the presence of the mismatch defect. Such bending would constitute a global effect on the conformation of the molecule. 2. Sequences in and around the mismatches were studied using enzyme and chemical probes of DNA structure. This would reveal more local structural effects of the mismatched sequences. We observed that the structures of the bulges and the multiple mismatches appear to be fundamentally different. The bulged sequences exhibited a large gel retardation, consistent with a significant bending of the DNA at the bulge, and whose magnitude depends on the number of mismatched bases. The larger bulges were sensitive to cleavage by single-strand specific nucleases, and modified by diethyl pyrocarbonate (adenines) or osmium tetroxide (thymines) in a non-uniform way, suggesting that the bulges have a precise structure that leads to exposure of some, but not all, of the bases. In contrast the multiple mismatches ('bubbles') cause very much less bending of the DNA fragment in which they occur, and uniform patterns of chemical reactivity along the length of the mismatched sequences, suggesting a less well defined, and possibly flexible, structure. The precise structure of the bulges suggests that such features may be especially significant for recognition by proteins.