Berlin 2018 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 2: Biomaterials and Biopolymers (joint session BP/CPP)

BP 2.7: Vortrag

Montag, 12. März 2018, 11:30–11:45, H 1058

Are there knots in chromosomes? — Jonathan Siebert¹, Alexey Kivel¹, Tim Stevens², Ernest Laue², and •Peter Virnau¹ — ¹JGU Mainz, Institut für Physik — ²Cambridge University, Department of Biochemistry

Recent developments have for the first time allowed the determination of three-dimensional structures of individual chromosomes and genomes in nuclei of single haploid mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells based on Hi-C chromosome conformation contact data. Although these first structures have a relatively low resolution, they provide the first experimental data that can be used to study chromosome and intact genome folding. Here we further analyze these structures and provide the first evidence that G1 phase chromosomes are knotted [1], consistent with the fact that plots of contact probability vs sequence separation show a power law dependence that is intermediate between that of a fractal globule and an equilibrium structure.

[1]J.T. Siebert et al., Are There Knots in Chromosomes?, Polymers 9:8 (2017)