Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 1992 Mar 12;356(6365):168-70.
doi: 10.1038/356168a0.

Long-range correlations in nucleotide sequences

C K Peng  1 , S V Buldyrev, A L Goldberger, S Havlin, F Sciortino, M Simons, H E Stanley
Collaborators, Affiliations
Comparative Study

Long-range correlations in nucleotide sequences

C K Peng et al. Nature. .

Abstract

DNA sequences have been analysed using models, such as an n-step Markov chain, that incorporate the possibility of short-range nucleotide correlations. 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Correlations in intronless DNA.
    Prabhu VV, Claverie JM. Prabhu VV, et al. Nature. 1992 Oct 29;359(6398):782. doi: 10.1038/359782a0. Nature. 1992. PMID: 1436053 No abstract available.
  • DNA correlations.
    Li W, Kaneko K. Li W, et al. Nature. 1992 Dec 17;360(6405):635-6. doi: 10.1038/360635b0. Nature. 1992. PMID: 1465125 No abstract available.
  • DNA correlations.
    Munson PJ, Taylor RC, Michaels GS. Munson PJ, et al. Nature. 1992 Dec 17;360(6405):636. doi: 10.1038/360636a0. Nature. 1992. PMID: 1465126 No abstract available.
  • Uncorrelated DNA walks.
    Nee S. Nee S. Nature. 1992 Jun 11;357(6378):450. doi: 10.1038/357450a0. Nature. 1992. PMID: 1608445 No abstract available.
  • Long-range correlations in DNA.
    Chatzidimitriou-Dreismann CA, Larhammar D. Chatzidimitriou-Dreismann CA, et al. Nature. 1993 Jan 21;361(6409):212-3. doi: 10.1038/361212b0. Nature. 1993. PMID: 8423849 No abstract available.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources