Figure 5.
Uncoupling of apparent transitions in VA RNAI with mismatch and compensatory mutations at sites 2–5. Melting profiles for single strand and partial mutations (denoted AA, UU or R/L, see Table 1), and compensatory mutations at (A) site 2, (B) site 3, (C) site 4 and (D) site 5. The melting profile of wild-type VA RNAI at 280 nm is shown as a shadow in each plot for comparison. In (A), the inset plot shows the shoulder region with the profiles at 260 nm and 280 nm normalized to the height of the apparent transition centred on 60°C; this indicates a significant increase in relative hypochromicity at 260 nm for the compensatory mutant (marked with double-headed arrow).