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Hydrodynamic properties of macromolecular complexes. V. Improved calculation of rotational diffusion coefficient and intrinsic viscosity
Author(s) -
Wilson Robert W.,
Bloomfield Victor A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.1979.360180513
Subject(s) - rotational diffusion , chemistry , diffusion , macromolecule , ellipsoid , prolate spheroid , octahedron , spheres , viscosity , icosahedral symmetry , thermodynamics , molecular physics , crystallography , classical mechanics , physics , molecule , crystal structure , biochemistry , organic chemistry , astronomy
Abstract In our previous calculations of rotational diffusion coefficients and intrinsic viscosities of macromolecular complexes modeled by arrays of spherical subunits [J. G. de la Torre & V. A. Bloomfield, Biopolymers 16 , 1765, 1779 (1977); 17 , 1605 (1978)], results were poor when the dominant subunit was located near the center of frictional resistance. A simple means of correcting this flaw, which gives satisfactorily accurate results with little increase in computation time, is to replace the single large subunit with an array of smaller ones. We have examined trigonal bipyramidal, octahedral, and cubic arrays of spheres whose radii were chosen to give the same total volume or the same rotational diffusion coefficient as the parent sphere. These all give similar results, so the details of the modeling are not important. Results obtained using this stratagem are in much better agreement with the theories of Perrin and Simha for short prolate ellipsoids of revolution, and with experimental measurements of rotational diffusion coefficients of T‐even bacteriophage without fibers or with fibers retracted. We have also extended our previous calculations to consider phage with various numbers of fibers attached.