Issue 36, 2020

Multiscale modelling reveals higher charge transport efficiencies of DNA relative to RNA independent of mechanism

Abstract

In this study, we compare the charge transport properties of multiple double-stranded (ds)RNA sequences with corresponding dsDNA sequences. Recent studies have presented a contradictory picture of relative charge transport efficiencies in A-form DNA : RNA hybrids and dsDNA. Using a multiscale modelling framework, we compute conductance of dsDNA and dsRNA using Landauer formalism in the coherent limit and Marcus–Hush theory in the incoherent limit. We find that dsDNA conducts better than dsRNA in both the charge transport regimes. Our analysis shows that the structural differences in the twist angle and slide of dsDNA and dsRNA are the main reasons behind the higher conductance of dsDNA in the incoherent hopping regime. In the coherent limit however, for the same base pair length, the conductance of dsRNA is higher than that of dsDNA for the morphologies where dsRNA has a smaller end-to-end length relative to that of dsDNA.

Graphical abstract: Multiscale modelling reveals higher charge transport efficiencies of DNA relative to RNA independent of mechanism

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Mar 2020
Accepted
17 Aug 2020
First published
21 Aug 2020

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 18750-18760

Multiscale modelling reveals higher charge transport efficiencies of DNA relative to RNA independent of mechanism

A. Aggarwal, S. Bag, R. Venkatramani, M. Jain and P. K. Maiti, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 18750 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR02382E

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