Periodic zigzag structure of DNA film by buckling in drying process

Abstract

Organization of biopolymer is important for not only an evolution of a biological system but also construction material for well-defined nanostructures. Recently, several researchers have investigated the formation of Liquid crystalline pattern in drying droplets of semiflexible biopolymers such as a DNA and actin filaments.[1,2] However, a formation of the pattern was restricted to the edge of the sampe, so the pattern of biopolymers cannot be used in practical applications. Here, we developed a method for the zigzag structure on a desired position in a large area. The DNA aqueous solution was brushed to form unidirectional alignment and the linear buckling produced periodic zigzag structure at the final stage of drying. The zigzag pattern was analyzed by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This zigzag structure can provide applications to bio-template for nanoparticles or other biomaterials and electrical nano-device.