The Freezing of Random RNA
Michael Lässig1, Kay Jörg Wiese1,2
1Institut für theoretische Physik,
Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
2CNRS-Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de
l'Ecole Normale Supérieure,
24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
Abstract
We study secondary structures of random RNA
molecules by means of a renormalized field theory based on an
expansion in the sequence disorder. We show that there is a continuous
phase transition from a molten phase at higher
temperatures to a low-temperature glass phase. The
primary freezing occurs above the critical temperature, with local
islands of stable folds forming within the molten phase. The size of
these islands defines the correlation length of the transition. Our
results include critical exponents at the transition and in
the glass phase.
q-bio.BM/0511032 [pdf]
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (2006) 228101 [pdf]
Copyright (C) by Kay Wiese. Last edited March 17, 2008.