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Influence of supercoiling on the disruption of dsDNA
Shirish M Chitanvis1, Paul M Welch
1Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA. shirish@lanl.gov
Abstract:
We propose that supercoiling energizes double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) so as to facilitate thermal fluctuations to an unzipped state. We support this with a model of two elastic rods coupled via forces that represent base-pair interactions. Supercoiling is shown to lead to a distention of base pairs over a short span of dsDNA. This enhances the thermal probability for their disruption. The localized region of distention is analogous to a soliton. Our theory permits the development of an analogy between the unzipping transition and a second-order phase transition, for which the possibility of a new set of critical exponents is identified.
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