A 1D model for supercoiling-dependent transcription

During transcription, an RNA polymerase unwinds locally a double-stranded DNA, and moves on the DNA template as it reads off (transcribes) a gene. This process leads to the creation of negative supercoiling in the wake of the transcribing polymerase, and positive supercoiling ahead. This is at the basis of the "twin supercoiling domain" model of transcription which was first proposed in the 1980s. I will show an application of these ideas to a nonequilibrium 1D stochastic model of supercoiling-dependent transcription which produces bursts, absorbing states, and other nonequilibrium steady states.