Moving boundary electrophoretic behavior of ribonucleic acid

Abstract

Yeast RNA has been examined, using moving-boundary electrophoretic procedures, in several buffer systems covering the pH interval 3–10 and the ionic strength range 0.025–0.5. The studies suggest that the purity of RNA is better evaluated at pH 3 and pH 10 than in the intermediate pH range. In buffers containing phosphate or cacodylate ions, lack of enantiography between patterns from ascending and descending limbs of the cell indicate RNA-buffer interactions. The mobility of RNA at the same ionic strength −10.1·10⁻⁵ cm² V⁻¹ sec⁻¹ at pH 3 is 72% of the mobility, −14.0·10⁻⁵ cm² V⁻¹ sec⁻¹ found at pH 10.