Abstract
IN the α-form of synthetic polypeptide chains (poly-l-alanine, poly-γ-methyl-l-glutamate) divergences of the individual amino-acid residues of 5/18, 8/29 or 13/47 corresponding to helix periods of 27 A., 43 A., or 70.4 A., are discussed1,2. The numerators of these figures remind one of the divergences of phyllotaxis, where 5/13, 8/21 and 13/34 are members of the In this sequence the numerator and the denominator of every member is the sum of those of the two preceding members. Since this regularity applies also to the divergences discussed for the α-polypeptide helices, an extrapolation to hypothetical lower members of a similar sequence is possible. As a result the following is obtained. It is possible that higher members of this sequence might have a practical significance for polypeptide helices with long-range periods higher than 70.4 A. The lower extrapolated members, between brackets, have probably no real meaning ; they are only mentioned to show that the discussed divergences are members of a very striking sequence, comparable to that in phyllotaxis.
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Bamford, C. H., Brown, L., Elliott, A., Hanby, W. E., and Trotter, I. F., Nature, 173, 27 (1954).
Pauling, L., and Corey, R. B., Nature, 171, 59 (1953), find 12.5/45 which is nearly 13/47.
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FREY-WYSSLING, A. Divergence in Helical Polypeptide Chains and in Phyllotaxis. Nature 173, 596 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/173596b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/173596b0
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