Study of DNA deformation under flow using optical tweezers

The stretching and unwinding of polymers under flow is important for understanding the rheological properties of dilute polymer solutions. Scaling theory based on the blob picture of single polymer chains predicts several regimes for the overall shape of a hydrodynamically deformed macromolecule. We studied the shape of a DNA molecule stretched out by steady uniform flow at different velocities using optical trapping of single DNA molecules (tethered on polystyrene beads) and single molecule fluorescence imaging. The results show a gradual transition from a non-draining regime at low velocities to a free-draining regime at high velocities, thus verifying the predictions of the free draining-shell (F-shell) blob model.

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