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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Hi-C: A Method to Study the Three-dimensional Architecture of Genomes.
Published on: May 6, 2010
Screwlike order, macroscopic chirality, and elastic distortions in high-density DNA mesophases
F Manna1, V Lorman, R Podgornik
1Laboratoire de Physique Mathematique et Theorique, Universite Montpellier II, F-34095 Montpellier, France.
Abstract:
We investigate a new screwlike liquid-crystalline ordering in solutions of helical biopolymers and its influence on the state of individual molecules. In the resulting mesophase translational and rotational motions of molecules are coupled in screw fluctuations. We show that in contrast to the case of conventional chiral liquid crystals the elastic distortion does not twist the screw order but leads to overwinding of individual helical molecules. This explains the peculiarities of high-density DNA mesophases.
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