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S1 nuclease isolated from Aspergillus oryzae has been used to investigate the secondary structure of rabbit globin messenger RNA (mRNA). The enzyme, which is specific for single stranded nucleotides, digests globin mRNA to a limited extent, with 65-75% of the mRNA nucleotides resistant to digestion under mild conditions. This limited digestion is not due to enzyme inactivation, but rather to the normal activity of the single-strand nuclease. The reaction was studied as a function of temperature, salt and enzyme concentration. Analysis of the products of digestion on 20% acrylamide- 7M urea slab gels reveals a stable pattern of unique fragments ranging in size from 9 to 71 nucleotides. Separated alpha and beta globin mRNAs show similar, but not identical gel patterns, indicating strong structural similarities between the two species. The high degree of nuclease resistance, along with the fragment patterns seen on polyacrylamide gels, gives evidence to support a model of rabbit globin mRNA which contain specific, rather than random, helical structure.

PM2 superhelican DNA (form I), which as been reacted with the single strand specific reagent, N-cyclohexyl-N'-beta-(methylmorpholinium)ethyl carbodiimide (CMC) is more than 95% inhibited in its ability to support transcription with E. coli B RNA polymerase in vitro. Almost complete inhibition of transcription was achieved after 2 hours of reaction with FI when only 1% of the bases were modified. A large increase in S20,* (from 26.8 S to 33.6 S) of FI DNA was observed during the course of reaction. Rifampicin resistant transcription is more susceptible to inhibition by CMC than total transcription, suggesting that the CMC is preferentially binding at promoter sites. These results clearly are in accord with the observation that supercoiled DNA contains localized regions of unpaired bases. The promotor sites for E. coli RNA polymerase in FI PM2 DNA appear to be located at or near these unpaired sites.