Excluded volume of an intermediate-molecular-weight DNA. A Monte Carlo analysis

✍ Scribed by Carol Beth Post

• Book ID: 102762505
• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 515 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3525
• DOI: 10.1002/bip.360220406

✦ Synopsis

Synopsis

A Monte Carlo procedure was used to determine the effect of excluded volume on the dimensions of an intermediate-molecular-weight DNA for different Na+ concentrations. The calculation of a, the parameter for the linear expansion due to excluded volume, was accomplished by generating sets of chains and, for each set, comparing the average radius of gyration for the set of chains that do not overlap to that averaged over the entire set of chains. Each chain was defined by cylinders linked with free rotation and with bend angles generated according to a weighted Gaussian distribution. The chain parameters-contour length, cylinder length and diameter-were fixed in order to resemble published light-scattering experiments on Col El DNA. Values for a were less than 1.08 for Na+ concentrations between 0.007 and 1.OM. A previously reported analytical calculation of the excluded-volume correction of intermediate-sized DNA gave results that are closely similar to those from the Monte Carlo analysis.