Supercoiling and denaturation of DNA loops

TB Liverpool, SA Harris, C Laughton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We study the statistical mechanics of small DNA loops emphasizing the competition between elasticity, supercoiling, and denaturation. Motivated by recent experiments and atomistic molecular dynamics simulation, we propose a new coarse-grained phenomenological model of DNA. We extend the classical elastic rod models to include the possibility of denaturation and nonlinear twist elasticity. Using this coarse-grained model, we obtain a phase diagram in terms of fractional overtwist and loop size that can be used to rationalize a number of experimental results which have also been confirmed by atomistic simulations.
Translated title of the contributionOn the supercoiling and denaturation of DNA loops
Original languageEnglish
Article number238103
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume100
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jun 2008

Bibliographical note

Publisher: APS

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