Fluorescent DNA probes: study of mechanisms of changes in spectral properties and features of practical application

Spectral data and nucleic acid complex formation properties for more than 30 both newly synthesized and widely used fluorescent nucleotide-specific compounds of various classes have been analyzed. These include phenylbenzene, bisbenzimidazole, psoralen, angelicin, tetrahydrocarbazole, oxophenoxazine, and others. The main rules of a generalized model adequately explaining changes in fluorescent properties of synthetic, low molecular weight nucleotide-specific dyes depending on their chemical structure, mode of interaction with substrate, properties of assay medium, etc. are proposed. Fluorescent nucleotide-specific dyes have been originally used in newly developed methods for: express evaluation of "generalized microbial dissemination" of liquid media; evaluation of possible genotoxic effects of various foodstuffs, pharmaceutical drugs, hazardous environmental factors (including their combined effects on living organisms), etc.