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Three cases are considered of protein-DNA (or protein-RNA) complexes with a strongly correlated structure based on symmetry. In the first the symmetry of the nucleic acid is the determinant element, the second contains a dominant protein and an adaptive DNA/RNA and in the third a perturbed symmetry arises from elements of both components. The first situation is exemplified by the filamentous bacteriophage Pf1 in a low- and high-temperature state. The Pyrococcus abyssi Sm core and the trp RNA-binding attenuation protein are examples of the second situation. Finally, the nucleosome core particle represents the cooperative compromise between histone and DNA. In all the cases, the strong correlation in the structure is based on polygrammal scaling relations and on a molecular polygonal form lattice which depends on a single parameter.

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