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Polyelectrolyte contribution to the persistence length of DNA
Author(s) -
Schurr J. M.,
Allison S. A.
Publication year - 1981
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.1981.360200202
Subject(s) - persistence length , polyelectrolyte , chemistry , rigidity (electromagnetism) , persistence (discontinuity) , protein filament , thermodynamics , chemical physics , crystallography , molecule , physics , quantum mechanics , polymer , organic chemistry , biochemistry , geotechnical engineering , engineering
The difference between the theories of Manning, on the one hand, and of Odijk and Skolnick and Fixman, on the other, for the polyelectrolyte contribution to the persistence length of DNA is shown to arise entirely from a subtle geometrical error in the theory of Manning. The corrected theory of Manning predicts a negligible polyelectrolyte contribution in 1.0 M NaCl and only 33 Å in 0.01 M NaCl, thus giving a change in total persistence length by a factor of only 1.07 over that range, in agreement with Odijk. Pertinent data in the literature indicate that the persistence length must change by a factor of ≤ 1.6 between 1.0 and 0.01 M NaCl, and very likely by less than a factor of 1.4. Evidently, the intrinsic rigidity of the uncharged double‐strand filament dominates the bending rigidity at NaCl concentrations above 0.01 M .