Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes

**Definition:** Double-stranded nucleic acid molecules (DNA-DNA or DNA-RNA) which contain regions of nucleotide mismatches (non-complementary). In vivo, these heteroduplexes can result from mutation or genetic recombination; in vitro, they are formed by nucleic acid hybridization. Electron microscopic analysis of the resulting heteroduplexes facilitates the mapping of regions of base sequence homology of nucleic acids.

**Tree numbers:** - D13.444.500

**Synonyms:** - Heteroduplexes, Nucleic Acid