title: Analytical description of finite size effects for RNA secondary structures.
abstract: The ensemble of RNA secondary structures of uniform sequences is studied analytically. We calculate the partition function for very long sequences and discuss how the crossover length, beyond which asymptotic scaling laws apply, depends on thermodynamic parameters. For realistic choices of parameters this length can be much longer than natural RNA molecules. This has to be taken into account when applying asymptotic theory to interpret experiments or numerical results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Ohio State University, 174 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1106, USA.
authors.forename: Tsunglin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bundschuh
mesh_terms: D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D012313:RNA