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DNA supercoiling and transcription: topological coupling of promoters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2009

David M. J. Lilley ,
Dongrong Chen  and
Richard P. Bowater
David M. J. Lilley
Affiliation:
CRC Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Dundee DDt 4HN, UK
Dongrong Chen
Affiliation:
CRC Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Dundee DDt 4HN, UK
Richard P. Bowater
Affiliation:
CRC Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Dundee DDt 4HN, UK
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Extract

DNA supercoiling is a consequence of the double-stranded nature of DNA. When a linear DNA molecule is ligated into a covalently closed circle, the two strands become intertwined like the links of a chain, and will remain so unless one of the strands is broken. The number of times one strand is linked with the other is described by a fundamental property of DNA supercoiling, the linking number (Lk).

Type
Research Article
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , August 1996 , pp. 203 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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