Spatiotemporal features of nucleic acid hydration and their changes during denaturation revealed by THz spectroscopy

Dynamics and structure of water network around nucleic acid have been subjects of intensive studies due to their contributions to biological process. Here, we identified spatiotemporal features of DNA hydration through examining fully-hydrated DNA solutions by THz spectroscopy. The results suggest the presence of weakly bound water beyond tight-binding hydration layer with the timescale of 11.6ps and the thickness of 7.6Å. Also, we will present changes in the hydration water during DNA denaturation at the conference.