0 Kindt, J Tzlil, S Ben-Shaul, A Gelbart, WM 2001 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 98 13671-13674 2001-11 DOUBLE-STRANDED DNA, ESCHERICHIA-COLI, HEADS, CONFORMATION, ORGANIZATION, STRESS, LAMBDA, MODEL <p>We calculate the forces required to package (or, equivalently, acting to eject) DNA into (from) a bacteriophage capsid, as a function of the loaded (ejected) length, under conditions for which the DNA is either self-repelling or self-attracting. Through computer simulation and analytical theory, we find the loading force to increase more than 10-fold (to tens of piconewtons) during the final third of the loading process, correspondingly, the internal pressure drops 10-fold to a few atmospheres (matching the osmotic pressure in the cell) upon ejection of just a small fraction of the phage genome. We also determine an evolution of the arrangement of packaged DNA from toroidal to spool-like structures.</p> http://www.pnas.org/content/98/24/13671.full.pdf