Using Rubber Tubing to Demonstrate DNA Supercoiling and the Action of Topoisomerases

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 2 Issue 5 (1997), S1430-4171(97)05141-5

Using Rubber Tubing to Demonstrate DNA Supercoiling and the Action of Topoisomerases

Gale Rhodes

Department of Chemistry, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04103-9300

Published online: 26 November 1997

Abstract. I use a simple rubber-tubing model to demonstrate principles of DNA topology, including DNA twist and supercoil, conservation of linking number, and the action of topoisomerases. The resilience of the rubber mimics the natural response of double-stranded DNA to distorting forces such as strand separation during replication. Teachers can use this demonstration in traditional lecture or adapt it as a group-learning exercise.

Key Words: In the Classroom; DNA; supercoil; superhelix; supertwist; topoisomerase; writhe; linking number; topology

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: rhodes@usm.maine.edu)

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