Structure in the electric potential emanating from DNA

We present an analytical model, based on a Green-function technique, for the electric potential surrounding dissolved DNA which treats the full, discrete charge distribution of homopolymer B-DNA and the aqueous solvent as concentric, dielectric cylinders. The resulting expressions manifest the symmetry of the system, with terms equivalent to a continuous line charge and with distinctive helical terms both due to the sugar-phosphate backbone and due to the base pairs. This theoretical approach quantifies the structural information in the potential with continuing approach to the DNA surface.