title: Why is the number of DNA bases 4?
abstract: In this paper we construct a mathematical model for DNA replication based on Shannon's mathematical theory for communication. We treat DNA replication as a communication channel. We show that the mean replication rate is maximal with four nucleotide bases under the primary assumption that the pairing time of the G-C bases is between 1.65 and 3 times the pairing time of the A-T bases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA. bdeng@math.unl.edu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D020029:Base Pairing / Q000235:genetics*; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics*; D003854:Deoxyribonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D007700:Kinetics; D008957:Models, Genetic
chemical_list: D003854:Deoxyribonucleotides