Related papers: DNA ejection from bacteriophage: towards a general…
The dynamics of polymer translocation through a pore has been the subject of recent theoretical and experimental works. We have considered theoretical estimates and performed computer simulations to understand the mechanism of DNA uptake…
Optical tweezers are employed to measure the forces of interaction within a single pair of DNA-grafted colloids in dependence of the molecular weight of the DNA-chains, and the concentration and valence of the surrounding ionic medium. The…
Bacteriophages densely pack their long dsDNA genome inside a protein capsid. The conformation of the viral genome inside the capsid is consistent with a hexagonal liquid crystalline structure. Experiments have confirmed that the details of…
The problem of inhibiting viral DNA ejection from bacteriophages by multivalent counterions, specifically Mg$^{+2}$ counterions, is studied. Experimentally, it is known that MgSO$_4$ salt has a strong and non-monotonic effect on the amount…
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, store their micron long DNA inside an icosahedral capsid with a typical diameter of 40 nm to 100 nm. Consistent with experimental observations, such confinement conditions induce an arrangement…
We review statistical-mechanical theories of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments on nucleic acids. First, models for describing polymer elasticity are introduced. We then review how these models are used to interpret…
We show experimentally that a cheap glass microcapillary can accumulate {\lambda}-phage DNA at its tip and deliver the DNA into the capillary using a combination of electro-osmotic flow, pressure-driven flow, and electrophoresis. We develop…
A theory of the unzipping of double-stranded (ds) DNA is presented, and is compared to recent micromanipulation experiments. It is shown that the interactions which stabilize the double helix and the elastic rigidity of single strands (ss)…
The impact of damping effect and external forces to the DNA breathing is investigated within the Peyrard-Bishop model. In in the continuum limit, the dynamics of the breathing of DNA is described by the forced-damped nonlinear Schrodinger…
We use a mesoscale simulation approach to explore the impact of different capsid geometries on the packaging and ejection dynamics of polymers of different flexibility. We find that both packing and ejection times are faster for flexible…
We present a numerical study of the effect of knotting on the ejection of flexible and semiflexible polymers from a spherical, virus-like capsid. The polymer ejection rate is primarily controlled by the knot, which moves to the hole in the…
The damping effect to the DNA bubble is investigated within the Peyrard-Bishop model. In the continuum limit, the dynamics of the bubble of DNA is described by the damped nonlinear Schrodinger equation and studied by means of variational…
A liquid crystal continuum modeling framework for icosahedra bacteriophage viruses is developed and tested. The main assumptions of the model are the chromonic columnar hexagonal structure of confined DNA, the high resistance to bending and…
The local mechanical properties of DNA are believed to play an important role in their biological functions and DNA-based nanomechanical devices. Using a simple sphere-tip compression system, the local radial mechanical properties of DNA…
A study of the micromechanical unzipping of DNA in the framework of the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois model is presented. We introduce a Monte Carlo technique that allows accurate determination of the dependence of the unzipping forces on…
Nanochannels provide means for detailed experiments on the effect of confinement on biomacromolecules, such as DNA. We here introduce a model for the complete unfolding of DNA from the circular to linear configuration. Two main ingredients…
A double stranded DNA molecule when pulled with a force acting on one end of the molecule can become either partially or completely unzipped depending on the magnitude of the force F. For a random DNA sequence, the number M of unzipped base…
By exploring a recent model [Palmeri, J., M. Manghi, and N. Destainville. 2007. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99:088103] where DNA bending elasticity, described by the wormlike chain model, is coupled to base-pair denaturation, we demonstrate that small…
The energetic and transport properties of a double-stranded DNA dodecamer encapsulated in hydrophobic carbon nanotubes are probed employing two limiting nanotube diameters, D=4 nm and D=3 nm, corresponding to (51,0) and (40,0) zig-zag…
We propose a simple model for the kinetics of packaging of viral DNA in to a capsid against an external force trying to prevent it. The model leads to a Butler-Volmer type dependence of the rate of packaging on the pulling force F.