An intermediate phase in DNA melting

Abstract

We predict a novel temperature-driven phase transition of DNA below the melting transition. The additional, intermediate phase exists for repetitive sequences, when the two strands have different lengths. In this phase, the excess bases of the longer strand are completely absorbed as bulge loops inside the helical region. When the temperature is lowered, the excess bases desorb into overhanging ends, resulting in a contour length change. This continuous transition is in many aspects analogous to Bose Einstein condensation. Weak sequence disorder renders the transition discontinuous.

5 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Why is the DNA Denaturation Transition First Order?
• Denaturation of Heterogeneous DNA
• Order of the phase transition in models of DNA thermal denaturation
• Statistical mechanics of secondary structures formed by random RNA sequences
• Dynamics of force-induced DNA slippage
• DNA as a programmable viscoelastic nanoelement
• Model for Folding and Aggregation in RNA Secondary Structures

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Bubbles and denaturation in DNA
• Force induced melting of the constrained DNA
• Denaturation of Circular DNA: Supercoil Mechanism
• Necklace-Cloverleaf Transition in Associating RNA-like Diblock Copolymers
• Unzipping of two random heteropolymers: Ground state energy and finite size effects
• Localization, big-jump regime and the effect disorder for a class of generalized pinning models
• Scaling limit of the disordered generalized Poland--Scheraga model for DNA denaturation