Journal
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL E
Volume 30, Issue 3, Pages 325-332Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2009-10524-5
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Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Zukunftskolleg of the University of Konstanz
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Single-molecule experiments on polymeric DNA show that the molecule can be overstretched at nearly constant force by about 70% beyond its relaxed contour length. In this publication we use steered molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study the effect of structural defects on force-extension curves and structures at high elongation in a 30 base pair duplex pulled by its torsionally unconstrained 5' -5' ends. The defect-free duplex shows a plateau in the force-extension curve at 120pN in which large segments with inclined and paired bases (S-DNA) near both ends of the duplex coexist with a central B-type segment separated from the former by small denaturation bubbles. In the presence of a base mismatch or a nick, force-extension curves are very similar to the ones of the defect-free duplex. For the duplex with a base mismatch, S-type segments with highly inclined base pairs are not observed; rather, the overstretched duplex consists of B-type segments separated by denaturation bubbles. The nicked duplex evolves, via a two-step transition, into a two-domain structure characterized by a large S-type segment coexisting with several short S-type segments which are separated by short denaturation bubbles. Our results suggest that in the presence of nicks the force-extension curve of highly elongated duplex DNA might reflect locally highly inhomogeneous stretching.
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