superhelicityn.
/ˌsuːpəˌhiːˈlɪsᵻti/, /ˌsjuːpəˌhiːˈlɪsᵻti/, U.S. /ˌsupərˌhiˈlɪsᵻdi/ Biochemistry.
The state or condition of having or adopting a superhelical structure.
ΚΠ
1969 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 43 37 The use of r by itself as an indicator of the degree of superhelicity should be avoided.
1980 A. Kornberg DNA Replication i. 25 Supertwisting, supercoiling, and superhelicity are terms for the twisting upon itself of the duplex DNA strands.
2000 E. L. Zechner et al. in C. M. Thomas Horizontal Gene Pool iii. 115 TraK is thought to alter the local DNA superhelicity in a way that reduces the tension exerted on the relaxosome when the DNA is in the open circular state.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1969