DYNAMIC BENDING RIGIDITY OF DNA

Rapidly relaxing components in the decay of the transient electric dichroism of DNA restriction fragments were reported by Diekmann et al. [(1982) Biophys. Chem. 15, 263–270] and Pörschke et al. [(1987) Biopolymers 26, 1971–1974]. These are analyzed using a new normal mode theory for weakly bending rods and assigned to bending. The longest bending relaxation times for fragments with 95–250 base pairs coincide with the theoretical curve calculated for a dynamic bending rigidity corresponding to a dynamic persistence length Pd = 2100 Å. Analysis of the relative amplitudes of fast and slow components following weak orienting pulses is also consistent with a rather large dynamic persistence length. The enhancement of the relative amplitude of the fast component in large electric fields is attributed to steady‐state bending of initially perpendicular DNAs by the field. Several reasons are proposed why the dynamic bending rigidity is 4 times larger than the apparent static bending rigidity inferred from equilibrium persistence length measurements on the same fragments. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.