Chemical modification of guanine residues of mouse 5 S ribosomal RNA with kethoxal. (Nucleosides and nucleotides 46).

Chemical modification of mouse 5 S rRNA with kethoxal was carried out to examine the secondary structure. The guanine residues located at positions 37, 41, 56, 66, 75 and 89 were modified. The relative rates of reaction are in the order G37, G56, G89, G66, G41, G75 at 28 degrees C and G37, G41, G56, G89, G75, G66 at 35 degrees C. These results support a secondary structure model containing 5 helices and 5 loops and indicate that the region around position 37 is the most exposed in higher-order structure.