Mechanical response of plectonemic DNA: an analytical solution

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytical model for the mechanical behavior of plectonemic DNA, deriving formulas for contact pressure and twisting moments, and validating the model with magnetic tweezer experimental data.

Contribution

An analytical solution for the elastic rod model of twisted DNA in the plectonemic regime, providing explicit formulas and experimental validation.

Findings

Derived formulas for contact pressure and twisting moment.

Validated model with magnetic tweezer experimental data.

Reconstructed mechanical and geometrical parameters consistent with literature.

Abstract

We consider an elastic rod model for twisted DNA in the plectonemic regime. The molecule is treated as an impenetrable tube with an effective, adjustable radius. The model is solved analytically and we derive formulas for the contact pressure, twisting moment and geometrical parameters of the supercoiled region. We apply our model to magnetic tweezer experiments of a DNA molecule subjected to a tensile force and a torque, and extract mechanical and geometrical quantities from the linear part of the experimental response curve. These reconstructed values are derived in a self-contained manner, and are found to be consistent with those available in the literature.