Twist-diameter coupling drives DNA twist changes with salt and temperature

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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Author(s)

  • Chen Zhang
  • Ying Lu
  • Bing Yuan
  • Zhi-Jie Tan
  • Xing-Hua Zhang

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereabn1384
Journal / PublicationScience Advances
Volume8
Issue number12
Online published23 Mar 2022
Publication statusPublished - 25 Mar 2022

Link(s)

Abstract

DNA deformations upon environmental changes, e.g., salt and temperature, play crucial roles in many biological processes and material applications. Here, our magnetic tweezers experiments observed that the increase in NaCl, KCl, or RbCl concentration leads to substantial DNA overwinding. Our simulations and theoretical calculation quantitatively explain the salt-induced twist change through the mechanism: More salt enhances the screening of interstrand electrostatic repulsion and hence reduces DNA diameter, which is transduced to twist increase through twist-diameter coupling. We determined that the coupling constant is 4.5 ± 0.8 kBT/(degrees nm) for one base pair. The coupling comes from the restraint of the contour length of DNA backbone. On the basis of this coupling constant and diameter-dependent DNA conformational entropy, we predict the temperature dependence of DNA twist Δωbp/ΔT ≈ -0.01 degree/°C, which agrees with our and previous experimental results. Our analysis suggests that twist-diameter coupling is a common driving force for salt- and temperature-induced DNA twist changes.

Research Area(s)

Citation Format(s)

Twist-diameter coupling drives DNA twist changes with salt and temperature. / Zhang, Chen; Tian, Fujia; Lu, Ying et al.
In: Science Advances, Vol. 8, No. 12, eabn1384, 25.03.2022.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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