Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW E
Volume 95, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.052401
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [DMR-1206868, MCB-1022117]
- National Institutes of Health [R01-GM105847, U54-CA193419]
- University of Massachusetts [U54DK107980]
- Molecular Biophysics Training Program at Northwestern University
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Materials Research [1206868] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We present a statistical-mechanical model for the behavior of intertwined DNAs, with a focus on their torque and extension as a function of their catenation (linking) number and applied force, as studied in magnetic tweezers experiments. Our model produces results in good agreement with available experimental data and predicts a catenation-dependent effective twist modulus distinct from what is observed for twisted individual double-helix DNAs. We find that buckling occurs near the point where experiments have observed a kink in the extension versus linking number, and that the subsequent supercoiled braid state corresponds to a proliferation of multiple small plectoneme structures. We predict a discontinuity in extension at the buckling transition corresponding to nucleation of the first plectoneme domain. We also find that buckling occurs for lower linking number at lower salt; the opposite trend is observed for supercoiled single DNAs.
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