Abstract
DNA SEQUENCES have been analysed using models, such as an it-step Markov chain, that incorporate the possibility of short-range nucleotide correlations1. We propose here a method for studying the stochastic properties of nucleotide sequences by constructing a 1:1 map of the nucleotide sequence onto a walk, which we term a 'DNA walk'. We then use the mapping to provide a quantitative measure of the correlation between nucleotides over long distances along the DNA chain. Thus we uncover in the nucleotide sequence a remarkably long-range power law correlation that implies a new scale-invariant property of DNA. We find such long-range correlations in intron-containing genes and in nontranscribed regulatory DNA sequences, but not in complementary DNA sequences or intron-less genes.
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Peng, CK., Buldyrev, S., Goldberger, A. et al. Long-range correlations in nucleotide sequences. Nature 356, 168–170 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356168a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/356168a0
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