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Chiral Discotic Columnar Germs of Nucleosome Core Particles

Overview
Journal Biophys J
Publisher Cell Press
Specialty Biophysics
Date 2000 Apr 25
PMID 10777768
Citations 15
Authors
F Livolant
A Leforestier
Affiliations
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Abstract

In concentrated solution and in the presence of high concentrations of monovalent cations, nucleosome core particles order into a discotic columnar mesophase. This phase is limited to finite-sized hexagonal germs that further divide into six coiled branches, following an iterative process. We show how the structure of the germs comes from the competition between hexagonal packing and chirality with a combination of dendritic facetting and double-twist configurations. Geometrical considerations lead us to suspect that the chirality of the eukaryotic chromosomes may originate from the same competition.

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