An Approach to Analyze the Ambiguity in RNA Structure

DNA and RNA are two very important bio-molecules of the human cell. RNA is the second major form of nucleic acid in human cells that plays an intermediary role between DNA and functional protein. Several classes of RNA’s are found in cells, each with a / its distinct function. Understanding of storage and utilization of a cell’s genetic information is based on the structure of RNA. However, many experimental results have shown that RNA plays another greater role in the cells. RNA sequences which contain signals at the structure level can be exploited to detect functional motifs common to all, or a portion of, those sequences. Different types of analysis of a structure can provide functional information in different degrees of detail. This paper discusses various types of RNA secondary structure representation and which structure can be adopted as appropriate for a probabilistic approach that avoids ambiguity.