denaturation temperature of DNA

de·na·tur·a·tion tem·per·a·ture of DNA

that temperature at which, under a given set of conditions, double-stranded DNA is changed (50%) to single-stranded DNA; under standard conditions, the base composition of the DNA can be estimated from the denaturation temperature, since the greater the denaturation temperature, the greater the guanine-plus-cytosine content (that is, GC content) of the DNA. Synonym(s): melting temperature of DNA