DNA ejection from bacteriophage: towards a general behavior for osmotic suppression experiments

Martin Castelnovo (1, 2) , Alex Evilevitch (3)

1 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon
2 Laboratoire Joliot Curie
3 L.U. - Department of Biochemistry

We present in this work in vitro measurements of the force ejecting DNA from two distinct bacteriophages (T5 and lambda) using the smotic-suppression technique. Our data are analyzed by revisiting the current theories of DNA packaging in spherical capsids. In particular we show that a simplified analytical model based on bending considerations only is able to account quantitatively for the experimental findings. Physical and biological consequences are discussed.

Mots clés: DNA packaging; bacteriophage; osmotic equilibrium

Domaines: Biophysique [physics.bio-ph]

Martin Castelnovo, Alex Evilevitch. DNA ejection from bacteriophage: towards a general behavior for osmotic suppression experiments. European Physical Journal E: Soft matter and biological physics, 2007, 24, pp.9-18. ⟨10.1140/epje/i2007-10205-5⟩. ⟨hal-00196724⟩