title: Extension of DNA in a nanochannel as a rod-to-coil transition.
abstract: DNA confinement in nanochannels is emerging as an important tool for genomics and an excellent platform for testing the theories of confined wormlike polymers. Using cutting-edge, large scale Monte Carlo simulations of asymptotically long wormlike chains, we show that, in analogy to the rod-to-coil transition for free wormlike polymers, there exists a universal, Gauss-de Gennes regime that connects the classic Odijk and de Gennes regimes of channel-confined chains. For DNA in a nanochannel, this Gauss-de Gennes regime spans practically the entire experimentally relevant range of channel sizes, including the nanochannels used in an incipient genome mapping technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Tree
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren-ai Road, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Dorfman
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008390:Markov Chains; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA