Related papers: Supercoil formation in DNA denaturation
We consider disordered models of pinning of directed polymers on a defect line, including (1+1)-dimensional interface wetting models, disordered Poland--Scheraga models of DNA denaturation and other (1+d)-dimensional polymers in interaction…
The interplay between global constraints and local material properties of chain molecules is a subject of emerging interest. Studies of molecules that are intrinsically chiral, such as double-stranded DNA, is one example. Their properties…
Helical molecules change their twist number under the effect of a mechanical load. We study the twist-stretch relation for a set of short DNA molecules modeled by a mesoscopic Hamiltonian. Finite temperature path integral techniques are…
A solid-state nanopore can electrophoretically capture a DNA molecule and pull it through in a folded configuration. The resulting ionic current signal indicates where along its length the DNA was captured. A statistical study using an 8 nm…
Recent work indicates that twist-bend coupling plays an important role in DNA micromechanics. Here we investigate its effect on bent DNA. We provide an analytical solution of the minimum-energy shape of circular DNA, showing that twist-bend…
We studied the electrical conductivity of DNA molecules with conducting atomic force microscopy as a function of the chemical nature of the substrate surfaces, the nature of the electrical contact, and the number of DNA molecules (from a…
Near the melting transition the bending elastic constant, $\kappa$, an emergent property of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), is shown not to follow the rod-like scaling for small length $N$. The reduction in $\kappa$ with temperature is…
Our study aims at a better control and understanding of the transfer of a complex [DNA supercoiled plasmid - dodecyltrimethylammonium surfactant] layer from a liquid-vapour water interface onto a silicon surface without any additional…
The unconstrained genomic DNA of bacteria forms a coil, which volume exceeds 1000 times the volume of the cell. Since prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus, in sharp contrast with eukaryotes, the DNA may consequently be expected to…
The influence of decoherence and bonding on the linear conductance of single double-stranded DNA molecules is examined by fitting a phenomenological statistical model developed recently (EPJB {\bf 68}, 237 (2009)) to experimental results.…
We calculate the equation of state of DNA under tension for the case that the DNA features loops. Such loops occur transiently during DNA condensation in the presence of multivalent ions or sliding cationic protein linkers. The…
One-dimensional thermodynamic instabilities are phase transitions not prohibited by Landau's argument, because the energy of the domain wall (DW) which separates the two phases is infinite. Whether they actually occur in a given system of…
We investigate the sharp asymptotic behavior at criticality of the large fluctuations of extensive observables in renewal models of statistical mechanics, such as the Poland-Scheraga model of DNA denaturation, the Fisher-Felderhof model of…
In this paper we consider a physical system in which two DNA molecules braid about each other. The distance between the two molecular ends, on either side of the braid, is held at a distance much larger than supercoiling radius of the…
Plectonemes are intertwined helically looped domains which form when a DNA molecule is supercoiled, i.e. over- or under-wounded. They are ubiquitous in cellular DNA and their physical properties have attracted significant interest both from…
A detailed description of the conformational plasticity of double stranded DNA (ds) is a necessary framework for understanding protein-DNA interactions. Until now, however structure and kinetics of the transition from the basic conformation…
The chiral nature of DNA plays a crucial role in cellular processes. Here we use magnetic tweezers to explore one of the signatures of this chirality, the coupling between stretch and twist deformations. We show that the extension of a…
Molecular biology explains function of molecules by their geometrical and electronical structures that are mainly determined by utilization of quantum effects in chemistry. However, further quantum effects are not thought to play any…
The hybridization and dehybridization of DNA subject to tension is relevant to fundamental genetic processes and to the design of DNA-based mechanobiology assays. While strong tension accelerates DNA melting and decelerates DNA annealing,…
Nanoscale molecular systems such as DNA require an atomistic quantum treatment to accurately capture their electrical properties, owing to their small dimensions. A central challenge in modeling transport through these systems is the…