title: Enumeration of RNA structures by matrix models.
abstract: We enumerate the number of RNA contact structures according to their genus, i.e., the topological character of their pseudoknots. By using a recently proposed matrix model formulation for the RNA folding problem, we obtain exact results for the simple case of an RNA molecule with an infinitely flexible backbone, in which any arbitrary pair of bases is allowed. We analyze the distribution of the genus of pseudoknots as a function of the total number of nucleotides along the phosphate-sugar backbone.
authors.affiliation: Service de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vernizzi
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Orland
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zee
mesh_terms: D008956:Models, Chemical; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012313:RNA