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Studies of circular DNA confined to nanofluidic channels are relevant bothfrom a fundamental polymer-physics perspective and due to the importance ofcircular DNA molecules in vivo. We here observe the unfolding of DNA from thecircular to linear configuration as a light-induced double strand break occurs,characterize the dynamics, and compare the equilibrium conformationalstatistics of linear and circular configurations. This is important because itallows us to determine to which extent existing statistical theories describethe extension of confined circular DNA. We find that the ratio of theextensions of confined linear and circular DNA configurations increases as thebuffer concentration decreases. The experimental results fall betweentheoretical predictions for the extended de Gennes regime at weaker confinementand the Odijk regime at stronger confinement. We show that it is possible todirectly distinguish between circular and linear DNA molecules by measuring theemission intensity from the DNA. Finally, we determine the rate of unfoldingand show that this rate is larger for more confined DNA, possibly reflectingthe corresponding larger difference in entropy between the circular and linearconfigurations.

Nanoconfined circular and linear DNA - equilibrium conformations and unfolding kinetics