Kinetic theory and thermodynamics of template-directed copolymerization

Abstract

Template-directed copolymerization is the fundamental process for the replication, transcription, and translation of genetic information. The copy of the template sequence is grown by the attachment of monomers with a molecular machine. The long-time kinetics of such processes is exactly solvable in terms of iterated function systems. This method determines the effects of sequence heterogeneity and replication errors on the growth of the copy and the statistical properties of its sequence. In particular, a transition can occur between linear and sublinear growth in time of the copy. In the linear regime, the local growth velocity along the template may have a fractal distribution. Furthermore, the growth can be driven around equilibrium by the entropic effect of replication errors in an adverse free-energy landscape.