[Chimera-users] drawing single stranded dna

[Elaine Meng]

Hi Melanie,
I guess you are referring to building DNA with the Build Structure tool.  You can only build double-stranded nucleic acids in Chimera, not single-stranded.  However, regardless of how you got a double-stranded structure (e.g. from the Protein Data Bank structure repository), you could always delete or hide one strand.  Of course, the remaining strand will still be in the original conformation.  Single-stranded nucleic acids are less regular in structure in reality, and Chimera does not have anything to predict reasonable coordinates in that situation.

If you built it with Chimera, one strand is chain A and the other is chain B.  You could select one chain (for example, menu: Select… Chain… B)

… then hide the selection (for example, menu: Actions… Atoms/Bonds… hide, menu: Actions… Ribbon… hide)

… or delete the selection (Actions… Atoms/Bonds… delete) which is irreversible.

There are also lots of options for how to display it.  For example, see the Getting Started tutorial part 2 (menu: Help… Tutorials).

I hope this helps,
Elaine
----------
Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D. 
UCSF Computer Graphics Lab (Chimera team) and Babbitt Lab
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of California, San Francisco

> On Oct 13, 2015, at 2:11 PM, Sanders, Melanie - ARS <Melanie.Sanders at ARS.USDA.GOV> wrote:
> 
> Dear,
>  
> Is it possible to draw a single stranded dna. I always get a double stranded one if I enter the nucleic acids.
>  
> Best regards,
>  
> Melanie Sanders, PhD.
> Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology
> USDA-ARS
> 1815 North University Street
> Peoria, Illinois 61604-3999
> Phone: 309-681-6208
> e-mail: melanie.sanders at ars.usda.gov