Unzipping double-stranded DNA with a force: numerical results.

A double-stranded DNA molecule pulled with a force acting on the strand terminals exhibits a partially denatured structure or can be completely unzipped when the pulling force goes beyond a critical force. It has been suggested that accompanying the unzipping transition, various power-law properties exist. Through the numerical solution to a model that contains heterogeneous bonding interactions between bases on the two strands, we evaluated the critical forces and the extension-force curves for various degree of sequence disorderliness, and compared the numerical results with predictions from analytical approaches.