Force-induced unzipping of DNA with long-range correlated sequence

TL;DR

This paper investigates how long-range correlated sequences in DNA affect the force-induced unzipping transition, revealing that such correlations smear the phase transition and cause non-self-averaging, with implications for biological functions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that long-range correlations in DNA sequences alter the unzipping transition's nature and universality class, providing new insights into DNA's physical behavior.

Findings

Long-range correlations smear the unzipping phase transition.

Correlations lead to non-self-averaging behavior.

Different typical unzipping scenarios are identified.

Abstract

We consider force-induced unzipping transition for a heterogeneous DNA model with a long-range correlated base-sequence. It is shown that as compared to the uncorrelated situation, long-range correlations smear the unzipping phase-transition, change its universality class and lead to non-self-averaging: the averaged behavior strongly differs from the typical ones. Several basic scenarios for this typical behavior are revealed and explained. The results can be relevant for explaining the biological purpose of long-range correlations in DNA.