superhelicaladj.
/ˌsuːpəˈhɛlᵻkl/, /ˌsuːpəˈhiːlᵻkl/, /ˌsjuːpəˈhɛlᵻkl/, /ˌsjuːpəˈhiːlᵻkl/, U.S. /ˌsupərˈhilᵻk(ə)l/, /ˌsupərˈhɛlək(ə)l/ Biochemistry.
Of or relating to a superhelix; of the nature of or containing a superhelix.
ΚΠ
1957 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 24 545 An important functional property of the virus proteins probably resides in their specific tendency to aggregation in a superhelical array around..nucleic acid strands.
1966 Jrnl. Gen. Physiol. 49 125 I wonder whether you would explain again how you calculated the number of superhelical turns.
1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) x. 582 A moving RNA polymerase molecule..will tend to generate positive superhelical tension in the DNA in front of it and negative superhelical tension behind it.
2010 D. Yüksel et al. in S. J. Park & J. R. Cochran Protein Engin. & Design ix. 211 Coiled coils form left-handed superhelical bundles because each amino acid in a normal α-helix rotates radially by 100°.
Derivatives
ˌsuperˈhelically adv.
ΚΠ
1968 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 32 678 These results support the conclusion that λ DNA species I is a circular molecule which in low-salt media is superhelically twisted.
1998 Science 6 Mar. 1490/1 Among these [sc. enzymes that produce mechanical change] are the topoisomerases, which can untwist superhelically coiled DNA.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1957