Bending
DNA is a relatively rigid polymer, typically modelled as a worm-like chain. It has three significant degrees of freedom; bending, twisting and compression, each of which cause particular limitations on what is possible with DNA within a cell. Twisting/torsional stiffness is important for the circularisation of DNA and the orientation of DNA bound proteins relative to each other and bending/axial stiffness is important for DNA wrapping and circularisation and protein interactions. Compression/extension is relatively unimportant in the absence of high tension.
Read more about this topic: Nucleic Acid Double Helix
Famous quotes containing the word bending:
“And then I ran to get away,
But when I stopped and turned to see,
The tree was bending to the side
And leaning out to look at me.”
—Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1880–1941)
“The train rounds, bending to a scream,
Taking the final level for the dive
Under the river—”
—Hart Crane (1899–1932)
“This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;”
—James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)