A systematic study of DNA conformation in slitlike confinement

Abstract

DNA conformation in slitlike confinement is studied using Monte Carlo simulation and scaling theory. We focus on analysing the in-plane DNA extension as a function of slit height and DNA properties, such as contour length, persistence length and width. Similar to tube confinement, we identify an extended de Gennes regime which is prevalent in many experimental studies. However, unlike previous studies in tubes, we find two highly confined regimes (so called Odijk regimes) that depend on chain crossing. Our results support the majority of experiments which display a gradual transition into the Odijk regime and give new insight into the importance of chain width for DNA in nanoslits. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.