High angle neutron fibre diffraction studies of the distribution of water around the D form of DNA

The instrument D19 at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, has been used to undertake neutron fibre diffraction studies of the location of water around the D form of the DNA double helix. These studies clearly show the distribution of water in the small and large grooves of the molecule and, together with information from X-ray studies on the location of cations around the molecule, provide new information on the factors which help to stabilise this form of DNA. (orig.)