Transport of Torsional Stress in DNA

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Abstract
It is well known that transcription can induce torsional stress in DNA, affecting the activity of nearby genes or even inducing structural transitions in the DNA duplex. It has long been assumed that the generation of significant torsional stress requires the DNA to be anchored, forming a limited topological domain, since otherwise it would spin almost freely about its axis. Previous estimates of the rotational drag have however neglected the role of small natural bends in the helix backbone. We show how these bends can increase the drag by four orders of magnitude relative to prior estimates, allowing significant torsional stress even in linear, unanchored DNA. The model helps explain some surprising recent experimental results on cruciform extrusion induced by transcription of linear DNA.

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