Scaling Exponents and Probability Distributions of DNA End-to-End Distance

Francesco Valle, Mélanie Favre, Paolo De Los Rios, Angelo Rosa, and Giovanni Dietler
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 158105 – Published 6 October 2005
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Abstract

The scaling of the average gyration radius of polymers as a function of their length can be experimentally determined from ensemble measurements, such as light scattering, and agrees with analytical estimates. Ensemble techniques, yet, do not give access to the full probability distributions. Single molecule techniques, instead, can deliver information on both average quantities and distribution functions. Here we exploit the high resolution of atomic force microscopy over long DNA molecules adsorbed on a surface to measure the average end-to-end distance as a function of the DNA length, and its full distribution function. We find that all the scaling exponents are close to the predicted 3D values (ν=0.589±0.006 and δ=2.58±0.77). These results suggest that the adsorption process is akin to a geometric projection from 3D to 2D, known to preserve the scaling properties of fractal objects of dimension df<2.

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  • Received 15 March 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.158105

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Francesco Valle1, Mélanie Favre1, Paolo De Los Rios2, Angelo Rosa3, and Giovanni Dietler1

  • 1Laboratory of Physics of Living Matter, IPMC, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 2Laboratory of Statistical Biophysics, ITP, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 3Laboratory for Computation and Visualization in Mathematics and Mechanics, IMB, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 15 — 7 October 2005

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