Definition of supercoil in English:
supercoil
noun ˈsuːpəkɔɪlˈso͞opərˌkoil
Biochemistry another term for superhelix
Example sentencesExamples
- This characteristic pattern of plateaus and jumps is observed using Drosophila melanogaster Topo II demonstrating that this enzyme simultaneously binds to the G- and T-segments and stabilizes plectonemic supercoils.
- The filament is able to adopt many polymorphic conformations, including left-handed and right-handed supercoils, depending on various environmental conditions.
- Interactions among supercoils can be taken into account in the second virial approximation, because at the present ionic strength electrostatic interactions are screened over a spatial extent less than the superhelical diameter.
- A proposed geometry of the LacI loop as a tight supercoil away from the protein has been controversial, and it is likely that loop geometry is different for different DNA sequences.
- Its major biological role in the bacterial cell is the removal of excessive negative supercoils from DNA to maintain the DNA at optimal superhelical density along with DNA gyrase.
verb ˈsuːpəkɔɪlˈso͞opərˌkoil
[with object]Biochemistry Form (a substance) into a superhelix.
this discovery predicted an enzyme that can supercoil DNA
Example sentencesExamples
- This binding affinity to supercoiled DNA is approximately two orders-of-magnitude larger than on relaxed DNA.
- Interestingly, the structure of the H-NS-DNA complex alone permits the nucleoid to respond, with high sensitivity, to changes in temperature and osmolarity, independent of additional host proteins and changes in DNA supercoiling.
- Chromosomes are visible only during cell division, when the DNA is supercoiled and condensed to facilitate distribution into daughter cells.
- Extensions from linear to circular supercoiled DNA were subsequently reported, including improvements that extended the coverage from low salt to physiological salt conditions.
- Fortunately, the inhibitory salt effect can be alleviated in vivo by natural DNA supercoiling.