88 research outputs found
Plasmodium falciparum has rare correlation properties
A plot of the correlation function of a given DNA sequence has certain characteristic features common to almost all organisms. One common feature is that the correlation values at distances that are multiples of three is higher than correlation values at other distances. Because of this such a correlation plot can be divided into two or three curves with different scalings. P. falciparum has a rare correlation property which is probably unique. I have analyzed genomes of many bacteria, fungi and protozoa and found that P. falciparum is the only organism whose DNA sequence correlation plot can be divided into four curves with different scalings. This property is neither shared by other species of the Plasmodium genus nor by other AT rich genomes. This could be a hint that the DNA sequence of P. falciparum has undergone certain rare mutational events.

Statistical analysis of protein molecules
In this paper, entropy and auto-correlation values of main chain dihedral angles of 22,356 protein molecules are calculated and found to lie within a well-specified range for most proteins. Also, the entropy values obey a Gaussian distribution, which indicates that entropy plays a crucial role in evolution and conservation of protein tertiary structures. A comparison of the auto-correlation values of the dihedral angles of the entire protein molecule with those of the alpha helices and beta sheets indicates that random coils play an important role in determining the tertiary structure of protein molecules
Dynamics of proteins and DNA in a Paul trap
Paul traps are increasingly being used in a wide variety of applications in biology including study of protein dynamics and DNA sequencing. In this paper, statistical properties of a macromolecule chain in a Paul trap are theoretically analyzed using a simple model of charged particles connected by rigid rods. It is found that the mean displacement of chain varies linearly with the chain length, showing properties of enhanced diffusion, compared to the normal diffusion relation which exists for the case of a macromolecule chain in a force-free region. The dependence of the mean displacement on the chain length and trap parameters is also found to be very different for the case of pure dc operation and pure ac operation of the Paul trap
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