Writhe formulas and antipodal points in plectonemic DNA configurations
Abstract
Description
The linking and writhing numbers are key quantities when characterizing the structure of a piece of supercoiled DNA. Defined as double integrals over the shape of the double-helix, these numbers are not always straightforward to compute, though a simplified formula exists. We examine the range of applicability of this widely-used simplified formula, and show that it cannot be employed for plectonemic DNA. We show that inapplicability is due to a hypothesis of Fuller theorem that is not met. The hypothesis seems to have been overlooked in many works.
20 pages, 7 figures, 47 references
20 pages, 7 figures, 47 references