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Author(s) -
Schöneborn Holger,
Bülle Jan,
von Kiedrowski Günter
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/1439-7633(20011203)2:12<857::aid-cbic857>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - förster resonance energy transfer , context (archaeology) , incandescent light bulb , bulb , chemistry , physics , cover (algebra) , nanotechnology , fluorescence , optics , botany , materials science , biology , mechanical engineering , engineering , paleontology
“Merry Christmas, ChemBioChem readership” is the prime message on this issue's cover. There is however a second, more subtle, meaning of the Christmas tree which can be understood more clearly in the context of the work of Schöneborn et al. described in this issue. The authors have developed a kind of chemical trick to allow monitoring of the autocatalytic growth of self‐replicating template molecules by means of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The FRET‐active species are template duplexes, in which the donor dye (indicated by a light‐green bulb) is attached to the 5' end of the green template strands, whereas the acceptor dye (light‐red) is attached to the red templates. The amount of light harvested from the red bulbs increases from top to bottom: 1 light‐red bulb at the tip, 4 in the layer of red light below, then 9, then 16, and finally 25 in the bottom layer. 1, 4, 9, 16, and 25 are obviously the square numbers of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. So if y is a measure of the amount of light harvested, and x is a measure of the distance from the tip, we find that y = x 2 , which is the equation for a parabola. In the authors' work x is the reaction time. To analyze the increase of light as a function of the time, the authors have used the kinetic models shown on the walls behind the Christmas tree and von Kiedrowski's SimFit program, from which a screenshot covers the floor of the illustration. Further details can be found in the article by Schöneborn et al. on p. 922 ff. Have fun!