Modelling supercoiled DNA knots and catenanes by means of a new regular isotopy invariant
✍ Scribed by S. A. Wilkinson
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 895 KB
- Volume
- 25
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0167-8019
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✦ Synopsis
This paper extends the knot polynomial classification of DNA knots and catenanes, by incorporating a measure of supercoiling. Cozzarelli, Millett, and White have used the Jones polynomial and the generalised 2-variable polynomial to describe the products of iterated Tn 3 resoivase recombination and phage 2 integrase mediated recombination. A new polynomial invariant, fl, is introduced; based on the regular isotopy invariants of Kauffman. The f~ polynomial is an invariant of framed links and involves the Whitney degree of the link. This is useful because it not only allows a regular isotopy classification, but also distinguishes between plectonemic and solenoidal supercoils. The enzymes above require plectonemic supercoils for the synaptic substrate, so we put the fl polynomial to use to investigate the supercoiling of the recombination products.
AMS subject classifications (1991). 92D10, 57M25.