Table 2.

Characteristics of Rho-independent terminators of the vpma locus.

	Hairpin −ΔGa	Stem lengthb	Loop sizec	T-stretch No. of Ts	T-stretch scored	Decision rule de
Ter U	6.3	4	4	12	5.9	5.1
Ter V	13.7	10	5	8	4.8	2.3
Ter W	9.5	8	8	10	5.4	2.8
Ter X	7.5	9	6	11	5.8	3
Ter Y	5.8	7	3	9	5.3	1.7
Ter Z	6.3	6	8	11	5.8	3.1
Ter Xer	13.2	9	5	10	5.2	3.5
Mean	8.9	7.6	5.6	10.1	–	–
Mycoplasma synoviaee	8.4	7.7	5.1	10.7	–	–
Escherichia colie	15.1	10.2	5.2	8.4	–	–
Bacillus subtilise	14.9	9.1	5.2	9.3	–	–

^aGibbs free energy of stem-loop formation in kcal/mole at a temperature of 25°C.

^bNumber of nucleotide pairs in the stem (see Fig. S3).

^cNumber of nucleotides forming the loop structure (see Fig. S3).

^dCalculated according to de Hoon et al. (2005) (see Experimental procedures).

^eMean values for predicted terminator structures in the genome of the respective bacteria according to de Hoon et al. (2005).