Author response image 1. Broken detailed balance in translocation dynamics on a cylinder.

Here two area elements are separated by a distance L corresponding to the translocation step size. The red arrows indicate preferred translocation directions – that is, principal curvature directions oriented along the sign of χ_n. The corresponding dynamics (right) can be written, where k_α denotes the kinetic rate corresponding to translocation along a deviatory angle of α from the preferred translocation direction. For small α (α < 90°), the forward and backward rates are unequal because the probability of a filament reorienting to an angle of α+180° will be smaller than that of an angle α.