DNA packaging and ejection forces in bacteriophage

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - Tập 98 Số 24 - Trang 13671-13674 - 2001
James T. Kindt1, Shelly Tzlil1,2, Avinoam Ben‐Shaul1,2, William M. Gelbart1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569; and Department of Physical Chemistry and The Fritz Haber Research Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
2Department of Physical Chemistry and

Tóm tắt

We calculate the forces required to package (or, equivalently, acting to eject) DNA into (from) a bacteriophage capsid, as a function of the loaded (ejected) length, under conditions for which the DNA is either self-repelling or self-attracting. Through computer simulation and analytical theory, we find the loading force to increase more than 10-fold (to tens of piconewtons) during the final third of the loading process; correspondingly, the internal pressure drops 10-fold to a few atmospheres (matching the osmotic pressure in the cell) upon ejection of just a small fraction of the phage genome. We also determine an evolution of the arrangement of packaged DNA from toroidal to spool-like structures.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Hershey A. D. & M. Chase M. (1952) J. Gen. Physiol. 36 39–56.

10.1038/1911242a0

10.1038/268598a0

10.1021/bi00162a023

10.1016/0022-2836(83)90038-4

10.1016/0022-2836(92)90258-L

10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02393.x

10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80409-2

10.1006/viro.2000.0735

10.1073/pnas.82.23.7960

10.1016/S0006-3495(95)80002-0

10.1002/bip.1978.360170317

I Gabashvili, A Grosberg, Yu, D V Kuznetsov, G M Mrevlishvili Biophysics 36, 782–789 (1992).

10.1016/S0006-3495(98)74041-X

10.1080/07391102.1992.10507966

10.1128/jb.178.23.6921-6929.1996

10.1016/S0021-9258(19)86331-7

10.1074/jbc.270.34.20059

10.1063/1.436761

10.1126/science.289.5487.2129

10.1209/epl/i1996-00346-7

10.1016/S0006-3495(92)81831-3

10.1002/bip.360300514

10.1038/35099581

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Tập 98 Số 24

13671-13674

Thông tin tác giả