[Changes in rigidity of the polymeric chain of the lambda-phage DNA in aqueous solutions with low ionic strength over...

It was shown that the decrease in the rigidity (persistent length) of phage lambda DNA, revealed previously by laser correlation spectroscopy, occurs in an aqueous solution at concentrations of sodium salts less than 10(-2) M in the pH range 4-9.5. DNA coils of anomalously small size (approximately twofold less than the size reported by other authors) are formed. The formation of these coils is likely to be due to the separation of "normal", i.e., rigid DNA coils into two phases, which occurs as the concentration of sodium salts decreases to 1.5 x 10(-3) M and pH of the solution decreases to 4. The phase of small-size (nonrigid) coils makes the major contribution to the scattering spectra. The phase of large-size coils disappears at pH 9.5. As pH increases, the size of small coils increases. The occurrence of coils of anomalously small size was registered by another method, quick precipitation. It is assumed that the phase separation of coils is related to the structural features of water.