EFFECT OF ELECTRON CORRELATION AND SOLVENT ON THE CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITION OF DNA

Abstract

The conformational transition of DNA is studied by considering electron–electron interaction and coupling to the environment. It is shown that the effect of counterions on DNA can be expressed approximately by the change of elasticity constant of the DNA backbone. We set up the coupled nonlinear equations to describe the interaction between the longitudinal displacement of DNA backbone and the electronic wave function as well as the solvent effect. It is also proved that the longitudinal displacement of DNA statistics the ϕ4 field form. With the help of the ϕ4 statistics properties, it is illustrated that the salt concentration and electron correlation plays an important role in the structural phase transition of DNA.