Existence of Sixteen 2'→5' Dinucleotides in Nuclease P₁ (Penicillium Nuclease) Digest of Technical Grade Yeast RNA

Abstract

Sixteen 2'-5' dinucleotides; (2'-5') pA-A, pA-G, pA-C, pA-U, pG-A, pG-G, pG-C, pG-U, pC-A, pC-G, pC-C, pC-U, pU-A, pU-G, pU-C, and pU-U were detected in nuclease P₁ digest of a technical grade yeast RNA by means of gel filtration on Sephadex G-10, DEAE-Sephadex A-25 column chromatography in the presence of 7M urea, paper electrophoresis and paper chromatography. Content of each dinucleotide was about 0.1 to 0.6% of the digest. As the sixteen 2'-5' dinucleotides were found in all of the digests of technical grade RNA preparations tested, each polynucleotide chain in the preparations may be concluded to contain several per cent of the 2'-5' minor phosphodiester linkages in addition to the 3'-5' major phosphodiester linkages.