Moments of the Boltzmann distribution for RNA secondary structures

TitleMoments of the Boltzmann distribution for RNA secondary structures
Publication TypeJournal Article
AuthorsMiklós, I., I. M. Meyer, and B. Nagy
Journal titleBulletin of Mathematical BiologyBulletin of Mathematical Biology
Year2005
Pages1031–1047
Volume67
Issue5
Abstract

We here present a dynamic programming algorithm which is capable of calculating arbitrary moments of the Boltzmann distribution for RNA secondary structures. We have implemented the algorithm in a program called RNA-VARIANCE and investigate the difference between the Boltzmann distribution of biological and random RNA sequences. We find that the minimum free energy structure of biological sequences has a higher probability in the Boltzmann distribution than random sequences. Moreover, we show that the free energies of biological sequences have a smaller variance than random sequences and that the minimum free energy of biological sequences is closer to the expected free energy of the rest of the structures than that of random sequences. These results suggest that biologically functional RNA sequences not only require a thermodynamically stable minimum free energy structure, but also an ensemble of structures whose free energies are close tothe minimum free energy.

Languageeng
Notes

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Unit: 
Department of Medieval Studies