Abstract
A linear segment in which a number of pairs of intervals of equal length are identified as potential stems is the subject of a folding problem analogous to inference of RNA secondary structure. A quantity of free energy (or equivalently, energy per unit length) is associated with each stem, and the various types of loops are assigned energy costs as a function of their lengths. Inference of stable structures can then be carried out in the same way as in RNA folding. More important, perturbation of stem lengths and energy densities (modelling various mutational processes affecting nucleotide sequences) allows the delineation of domains of stability of various foldings, through the explicit calculation of their boundaries, in a low-dimensional parameter space.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pipas, J. M. and J. E. McMahon. 1975. “Method for Predicting RNA Secondary Structure.” PNAS72, 2017–2021.
Zuker, M. and D. Sankoff. 1984. “RNA Secondary Structures and their Prediction.”Bull. Math. Biol. 46, 591–621.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ferretti, V., Sankoff, D. A continuous analog for RNA folding. Bltn Mathcal Biology 51, 167–171 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02458842
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02458842