title: Electronic signature of DNA nucleotides via transverse transport.
abstract: We report theoretical studies of charge transport in single-stranded DNA in the direction perpendicular to the backbone axis. We find that, if the electrodes which sandwich the DNA have the appropriate spatial width, each nucleotide carries a unique signature due to the different electronic and chemical structure of the four bases. This signature is independent of the nearest-neighbor nucleotides. Furthermore, except for the nucleotides with guanine and cytosine bases, we find that the difference in conductance of the nucleotides is large for most orientations of the bases with respect to the electrodes. By exploiting these differences it may be possible to sequence single-stranded DNA by scanning its length with conducting probes.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zwolak
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Ventra
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D004247:DNA