Mapping the double helix onto a smooth charged cylinder reveals that electrostatic free energies for molecular helices can, indeed, be described by two parameters: the axial charge spacing and the radius of a corresponding equivalent cylinder. As an example, we consider the conformational difference between A- and B-form double helices whose structures differ in the values of two key parameters-the helical radius and rise per basepair. We present a computational study that examines the prospect of using electrostatic free energy measurements to detect 3D conformational properties of nucleic acid molecules in solution. Over the last several decades, a range of experimental techniques from x-ray crystallography and atomic force microscopy to nuclear magnetic resonance and small angle x-ray scattering have probed nucleic acid structure and conformation with high resolution both in the condensed state and in solution.
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