title: Comparative analysis of nucleic acid sequences by their general constraints.
abstract: We describe two measures of a nucleic acid sequence, derived from Information Theory, which characterize the constraints toward nonuniform base composition, and the constraints on the ordering of the bases. These two measures distinguish extra-chromosomal coding sequences from all other coding sequences examined. The two measures separate eukaryotic coding sequences into two groups: those with introns and those without introns. We have also found a relationship between the general constraints of a subsequence and its degree of conservation in related genes.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011336:Probability; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA