Evaluation of RNA conformation from circular dichroism and optical rotatory dispersion data

An analysis of optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism of RNA is described which leads to an estimate of the degree of base pairing. By the use of new standards for the double‐helical parts of the molecule, based on data for two‐stranded viral RNA species, a good fit between calculated and observed curves can be achieved. Where data are available the results of analyses of optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism in general show satisfactory consistency.