Sébastien Neukirch
Institut Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Sorbonne Université, Campus Pierre et Marie Curie
Paris, Francetel: +33 1 44 27 72 61
e-mail: sebastien.neukirch (-atat-) upmc.fr
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Super-Coiling of DNA Plasmids: Mechanics of the Generalised Ply
J.M.T. Thompson, G. van der Heijden & Sébastien Neukirch
Proceedings of the Royal Society, London. Series A 458 (2002) 959-985
Abstract : In this paper we address the mechanics of ply formation in DNA supercoils. We extend the variable ply formulation of Coleman and Swigon to include end loads, and the derived constitutive relations of this generalised ply are shown to be in excellent agreement with experiments. We make a careful physical examination of the uniform ply in which two strands coil around one another in the form of a helix. We next address the problem of determining the link (Lk), twist (Tw) and writhe (Wr) of a closed DNA plasmid from an inspection of its electron micrograph. Previous work has made use of the topological relation, Lk = Tw + Wr , but we show how this kinematic result can be augmented by the mechanics solutions. A very precise result is achieved in a trial calculation.
PACS numbers : 02.60.Lj / 46.70.Hg / 87.15.He / 87.15.La
Key words : supercoiling of DNA; DNA molecule; writhing; ply mechanics; electron micrograph; rod theory.
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