MECHANICAL SEPARATION OF THE COMPLEMENTARY STRANDS OF DNA

Authors
ESSEVAZROULET B BOCKELMANN U HESLOT F
Citation
B. Essevazroulet et al., MECHANICAL SEPARATION OF THE COMPLEMENTARY STRANDS OF DNA, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 94(22), 1997, pp. 11935-11940
Citations number
38
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Journal title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America → ACNP
ISSN journal
00278424
Volume
94
Issue
22
Year of publication
1997
Pages
11935 - 11940
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-8424(1997)94:22<11935:MSOTCS>2.0.ZU;2-A
Abstract
We describe the mechanical separation of the two complementary strands of a single molecule of bacteriophage lambda DNA. The 3' and 5' extre mities on one end of the molecule are pulled progressively apart, and this leads to the opening of the double helix. The typical forces alon g the opening are in the range of 10-15 pN. The separation force signa l is shown to be related to the local GC vs. AT content along the mole cule. Variations of this content on a typical scale of 100-500 bases a re presently detected.