Softening of DNA near Melting as Disappearance of an Emergent Property

Abstract

Near the melting transition the bending elastic constant, $\kappa$, an emergent property of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), is shown not to follow the rod-like scaling for small length $N$. The reduction in $\kappa$ with temperature is determined by the denatured bubbles for a continuous transition, e.g., when the two strands are gaussian, but by the broken bonds near the open end in a Y-like configuration for a first-order transition as for strands with excluded volume interactions. In the latter case, a lever rule is operational implying a phase coexistence although dsDNA is known to be a single phase.