Averages of energy landscape parameters for epimerase–alginate interactions.

The parameters xβ, τ0 and ΔG# were estimated using the constant-speed rupture-force analysis after multiple regressions of Eq 3 with v = 1/2 to observed mean forces for all force loading rate intervals. The number of force loading rate intervals was varied from 20 and up to 30 yielding 20–30 estimates of the most probable unbinding force at the corresponding mean loading rates. The number of mean force estimates was about the same for the inner and outer barriers. The resulting master curves for the poly-M and the poly-MG complexes are shown in Fig 4A, 4C and 4E and Fig 5A, 5C and 5E, respectively.