Unraveling DNA tori under tension.
Motivated by recent experiments, we develop a model for DNA toroids under external tension. We find that tori are the equilibrium states for our model up to a critical tension, above which they become only metastable. Above this tension, we find a cascade of transitions between discrete toroid states that successively lower the winding number, until the ground state (rod) is reached. In this process, this model predicts a nearly constant force plateau as a function of extension, in agreement with experiment.
Battle
C
C
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1018 XE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
van den Broek
B
B
Noom
M C
MC
van Mameren
J
J
Wuite
G J L
GJ
MacKintosh
F C
FC
D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D013816:Thermodynamics
D004247:DNA