Fractionation and characterization of polyadenylated RNA from broad bean meristematic root cells.

Several populations of polyadenylated RNA from Vicia faba méristematic root cells were fractionated by stepwise thermal elution from poly(U)-Sepharose following sequential phenol extraction. Analysis of these fractions showed that the size of the poly(A) segment could influence this fractionation, but in some cases other characteristics of the molecule are involved. Evidence was obtained that 45-60% of the nucleotides of plant polyadenylated RNA are in base paired regions, as was previously demonstrated for mammalian mRNA.