Programme

P.32 -- Poster, VCTP-46

Date: Tuesday, 5 October 2021

Time: 08:30 - 10:00

Bundle arrangement in toroidal structures of a stiff-polymer chain

Nhung T. T. Nguyen and Trinh Xuan Hoang

Institute of Physics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

Toroidal and rod-like structures are typical collapsed conformations of a single stiff-polymer chain, and are the two most frequently observed morphologies of DNA condensates. In this study, we investigate the arrangement of bundles in toroidal structures of a stiff chain by analytical modeling and replica-exchange molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The analytical models consider several types of the chain winding within a toroid, namely the twisted bundle, the spool-like and the constant radius of curvature, and seek for the optimal conformation by energy minimization with respect to geometrical parameters of the toroid. The MD simulations are employed for a bead and spring model and are carried out to simulate the chain collapse starting from open conformations. In both methods, we find that the chain tends to adopt conformations akin to those of a twisted bundle within the toroidal structure. It is also indicated that the degree of the twisting decreases with the chain length.

Presenter: Nguyen Thi Thuy Nhung