title: Screwlike order, macroscopic chirality, and elastic distortions in high-density DNA mesophases.
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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Mathematique et Theorique, Universite Montpellier II, F-34095 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lorman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Podgornik
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zeks
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004548:Elasticity; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D044367:Phase Transition
chemical_list: D004247:DNA