Under a wide variety of conditions, the addition of condensing agents to dilute solutions of random-coil DNA gives rise to highly compact particles that are toroidal in shape. The size of these condensates is remarkably constant and is largely independent of DNA molecular weight and basepair sequence, and of the nature of condensing agent (e.g., multivalent cation, polymers, or added cosolvent). We show how this optimum size is determined by the interactions between topological defects, which unavoidably strain the circumferentially wound DNA strands in the torus.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.