Mechanical deformations of DNA and chromatin occur ubiquitously in biology, almost every time DNA interacts with proteins. Our understanding of how critical processes in chromatin biology are modulated by the response of DNA and chromatin to mechanical stresses has been shaped by several recent advances. This collection will bring together examples of such advances, with a particular focus on single-molecule, genomic, and computational approaches. Each method explores the physical properties of DNA and chromatin, and the energetics of DNA:protein interactions, at various scales and resolutions, providing readouts such as high-resolution dynamic measurements of DNA and chromatin dynamics, static measurements of DNA shape, high-throughput measurements of DNA mechanics and DNA:protein interactions in a genome-wide context.

Examples of methods to be included in this Collection are: Structural and computational studies of DNA shape and their impact on DNA:protein interactions, high-throughput methods for characterizing the DNA:protein interactions landscape, and the physical properties of DNA and chromatin, genome-wide, via next generation sequencing, and single-molecule methods for measuring the response of DNA and chromatin to physical stresses induced by tension, torsion, or the action of molecular motors.