We report a simple and robust magnetomechanical system for direct visual observation of the DNA packaging behavior of the bacteriophage phi29 in real time. The system comprises a micron-sized magnetic bead attached to the free end of the viral DNA, a magnet and a bright-field microscope. We show that the phi29 DNA packaging activity can be observed and dynamically analyzed at the single molecular level in bright field with a relatively simple system. With this system we also visually demonstrate the phi29 motor transporting a cargo 10 000 times the viral size.
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See EPAPS Document No. E-APPLAB-93-014842 for the calibration of applied magnetic force and two movie files. For more information on EPAPS, see http://www.aip.org/pubservs/epaps.html.
© 2008 American Institute of Physics.
2008
American Institute of Physics
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