Issue 47, 2021

Building up DNA, bit by bit: a simple description of chain assembly

Abstract

We simulate the assembly of DNA copolymers from two types of short duplexes (short double strands with a single-stranded overhang at each end), as described by the oxDNA model. We find that the statistics of chain lengths can be well reproduced by a simple theory that treats the association of particles into ideal (i.e., non-interacting) clusters as a reversible chemical reaction. The reaction constants can be predicted either from SantaLucia's theory or from Wertheim's thermodynamic perturbation theory of association for spherical patchy particles. Our results suggest that theories incorporating very limited molecular detail may be useful for predicting the broad equilibrium features of copolymerisation.

Graphical abstract: Building up DNA, bit by bit: a simple description of chain assembly

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Aug 2021
Accepted
04 Nov 2021
First published
04 Nov 2021

Soft Matter, 2021,17, 10736-10743

Building up DNA, bit by bit: a simple description of chain assembly

R. Foffi, F. Sciortino, J. M. Tavares and P. I. C. Teixeira, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 10736 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01130H

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