RNA secondary structure formation during transcription.

A new approach has been proposed for predicting the kinetic ensemble of the RNA secondary structures during chain growth. It is based on an analysis of time intervals in structural reconstruction. The Markov chain employed for describing structural reconstruction was modelled on the Monte Carlo method. A calculation was made of possible secondary structures formed during transcription. An algorithm has also been suggested for the search of a helix with a bulge type defect in which a cooperative effect is retained. Kinetic ensembles of the SD-sites and initiation regions of the polycistronic mRNA transcribed from ATP operon E. coli were calculated. A correlation between the secondary structures of these mRNA regions and the relative cistronic expression was established.