title: Stretching single stranded DNA, a model polyelectrolyte.
abstract: The elastic properties of single stranded (ss)DNA, studied by pulling on an isolated molecule, are shown to agree with a recent model of ssDNA that takes into account base pairings and screened electrostatic repulsion of the phosphodiester backbone. By an appropriate physicochemical treatment, the pairing interactions were suppressed and ssDNA used as an experimental model for a generic polyelectrolyte. The elastic behavior of such an altered ssDNA deviates strongly from the behavior of an ideal polymer. This deviation is shown to result from the elasticity of the chain and its electrostatic self-avoiding interactions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l'ENS, CNRS UMR 8550, associé aux Universités Paris VI et VII, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: M-N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Dessinges
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peliti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bensimon
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Croquette
mesh_terms: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry*; D004548:Elasticity; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004573:Electrolytes; D011108:Polymers