title: Microscopic implications of S-DNA.
abstract: Recent experiments [J. van Mameren, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 18231 (2009)] provide a detailed spatial picture of overstretched DNA, showing that under certain conditions the two strands of the double helix separate at about 65 pN. It was proposed that this observation rules out the existence of an elongated, hybridized form of DNA (S-DNA). Here, we argue that the S-DNA picture is consistent with the observation of unpeeling during overstretching. We demonstrate that assuming the existence of S-DNA does not imply DNA overstretching to consist of the complete or near-complete conversion of the molecule from B to S form. Instead, this assumption implies in general a more complex dynamic coexistence of hybridized and unhybridized forms of DNA. We argue that such coexistence can rationalize several recent experimental observations.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. swhitelam@lbl.gov
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitelam
authors.forename: Phillip L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Geissler
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pronk
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008853:Microscopy; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA