Figure 4.

Symbolic representation of a polaron-like distortion in duplex DNA. Vertical lines represent any DNA base (solid for purines, dashed for pyrimidines). The polaron-like distortion is contained within the rectangle symbolized by a decrease in base pair distance. The radical cation charge and free radical density of the polaron is portrayed as delocalized throughout its structure. Hopping of the polaron, in this case with a step size of 1 base pair, to the right is illustrated by one base pair joining the structure (on the right) and one leaving (on the left).