Stability mapping along the DNA double strand and its relation to the genetic map

The distribution of the stability of the double helical structure along the whole DNA of fdphage and its restriction fragments is calculated. In this calculation, Poland's method, which has been established as a rigorous algorithm for taking the base sequence explicitly into consideration, is used. The molecular thermodynamic parameters in the calculation have been determined so as to best reproduce the melting profile of the DNA and its fragments. The results, which are presented as melting maps, show fairly good agreement with those experimentally obtained by the present authors earlier. A close correlation with genes in the genetic map is apparent for some cooperatively melting regions observed in the stability map.