Configuration Transitions of Free Circular DNA System Induced by Nicks

Figure 5

Schematic of the release length on pUC19 DNA produced by nicks. Pink segments indicate that torsional energy is completely released. Segments indicated by “” represent the release length of base pairs induced by nicks. Segments indicated by “” represent the distant length between two neighbor nicks, which should be less than the double release length by nicks. The rest of pUC19 DNA represented by the black segments is the effective length. Diagram of pUC19 DNA with (a) two and (b) four nicks.

(a)

(b)