The nucleotide sequences of some large ribonuclease T1 products from bacteriophage R17 ribonucleic acid

A method of ‘fingerprinting’ high-molecular-weight32P-labelled RNA species, using a two-dimensional thin-layer-chromatographic separation of ribonuclease T1 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.