Scanning tunneling microscopy of cauliflower-like DNA nanostructures synthesised by loop-mediated isothermal amplification

DNA nanotechnology is a novel approach for synthesis of DNA-based nanostructures. Stem-loops, nanojunctions, sticky-ends and periodic lengths of DNA are the most essential nanostructures in DNA nanofabrications. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a powerful technology for repetitive synthesis of double-stranded and cauliflower-like DNAs. The process leads to long and repetitive sequences of DNAs, which are fabricated via loop primers. The authors demonstrate here scanning tunneling micrographs of LAMP-synthesised DNAs deposited on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. The scans are compared with natural DNAs. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images indicated the creation of periodic long DNAs, stem-looped DNAs and three-way DNA nanojunctions. It is also suggested that such nanomaterials could be promising candidates for use in DNA-based nanodevices.