Nature. 1992 Mar 12;356(6365):168-70.  

Comment in:
    Nature. 1992 Dec 17;360(6405):635-6.
    Nature. 1992 Dec 17;360(6405):636.
    Nature. 1992 Jun 11;357(6378):450.
    Nature. 1992 Oct 29;359(6398):782.
    Nature. 1993 Jan 21;361(6409):212-3.

Long-range correlations in nucleotide sequences.

Peng CK, Buldyrev SV, Goldberger AL, Havlin S, Sciortino F, Simons M, Stanley
HE.

Center for Polymer Studies, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215.

DNA sequences have been analysed using models, such as an n-step Markov chain,
that incorporate the possibility of short-range nucleotide correlations. We
propose here a method for studying the stochastic properties of nucleotide
sequences by constructing a 1:1 map of the nucleotide sequence onto a walk,
which we term a 'DNA walk'. We then use the mapping to provide a quantitative
measure of the correlation between nucleotides over long distances along the DNA
chain. Thus we uncover in the nucleotide sequence a remarkably long-range power
law correlation that implies a new scale-invariant property of DNA. We find such
long-range correlations in intron-containing genes and in nontranscribed
regulatory DNA sequences, but not in complementary DNA sequences or intron-less
genes.

PMID: 1301010 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]