The nucleotide sequences of some large ribonuclease T 1 products from bacteriophage R17 ribonucleic acid

A method of ;fingerprinting' high-molecular-weight (32)P-labelled RNA species, using a two-dimensional thin-layer-chromatographic separation of ribonuclease T(1) digestion products, has been applied to RNA from the Escherichia coli bacteriophage R17. The ;fingerprinting' technique, besides giving a unique pattern that can be used as a characterization of the RNA, has made it possible to isolate a number of the larger oligonucleotides and to determine their nucleotide sequences.