Hidden symmetries of DNA molecule

Alexander A Tulub; Vassily E Stefanov

doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.01.001

Hidden symmetries of DNA molecule

J Theor Biol. 2017 Mar 7:416:144-148. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.01.001. Epub 2017 Jan 8.

Authors

Alexander A Tulub¹, Vassily E Stefanov²

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Interdisciplinary Computational and Dynamical Analysis, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Emb. 7/9, 199034, Saint-Petersburg, RF, Russia. Electronic address: atulub@yahoo.co.uk.
² Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Emb. 7/9, 199034, Saint-Petersburg, RF, Russia.

PMID: 28077290
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.01.001

Abstract

Despite the fact that DNA molecule is studied up and down, we know very little about the role of DNA triplets in coding amino acids and stop-codons. The paper aims to fill this gap through attracting spintronic ideas and carrying out QM/MM computations on a full-turn DNA fragment. The computations reveal two hidden symmetries: the spin splitting (the Rashba effect), confined within each triplet, and the quantum "phase" link between the triplet nature (in total, 64 triplets) and the corresponding amino acid and three stop-codons. The hidden symmetries become evident upon binding the magnesium cofactor to DNA triplets in 5'-3' and 3'-5' directions.

Keywords: DNA molecule; Genetic code; Hidden symmetries; Nucleotide triplets; QM/MM computations; Spin physics.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Amino Acids
Codon, Terminator
DNA / chemistry*
Genetic Code
Magnesium / chemistry
Models, Genetic*
Quantum Theory

Substances

Amino Acids
Codon, Terminator
DNA
Magnesium