Effect of temperature on DNA condensation at single molecule level

Abstract

DNA condensation by multivalent cations has been extensively studied using single molecule experiment methods. To detect temperature effect on DNA condensation at the single molecule level, a strong correlation model was developed to investigate the behavior of DNA with self-interactions under constant tension. The simulation results are in line with the single molecule experiment that the kinetics of DNA condensation take on discontinuous and stepwise manner regardless of the toroid or rod-like conformation. By incorporating the temperature dependence of DNA persistence length into the strong correlation model, the temperature effect on DNA condensation is identified. The results indicate that condensed DNA conformations at single molecule level become more compact with increasing temperature.