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Biophys J, February 2001, p. 882-893, Vol. 80, No. 2
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 USA
The highly cooperative elongation of a single B-DNA
molecule to almost twice its contour length upon application of a
stretching force is interpreted as force-induced DNA melting. This
interpretation is based on the similarity between experimental and
calculated stretching profiles, when the force-dependent free energy of
melting is obtained directly from the experimental force versus
extension curves of double- and single-stranded DNA. The high
cooperativity of the overstretching transition is consistent with a
melting interpretation. The ability of nicked DNA to withstand forces greater than that at the transition midpoint is explained as a result
of the one-dimensional nature of the melting transition, which leads to
alternating zones of melted and unmelted DNA even substantially above
the melting midpoint. We discuss the relationship between force-induced
melting and the B-to-S transition suggested by other authors. The
recently measured effect on T7 DNA polymerase activity of the force
applied to a ssDNA template is interpreted in terms of preferential
stabilization of dsDNA by weak forces ~7 pN.
Biophys J, February 2001, p. 882-893, Vol. 80, No. 2
© 2001 by the Biophysical Society 0006-3495/01/02/882/12 $2.00
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