Assay for secondary structure in ribonucleic acid.

A chromatographic procedure is described which can discriminate among single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules in solution on the basis of the extent of their secondary structure. The assay is effected through chromatography at different temperatures with columns of cellulose CF-11. When Sindbis virus RNA is chromatographed in this system, the ratio of the amounts of RNA eluting in the single-stranded peak to those eluting in the double-stranded peak increases at higher temperatures, presumably a measure of the relative amounts of Sindbis virus RNA secondary structure at different temperatures. With this assay, Sindbis virus RNA, phage f2 RNA, and polyuridylate have been found to have different amounts of secondary structure.