An algebraic model of RNA duplex formation

We propose a simple algebraic description of the two‐body interactions of bases in RNA thermodynamics showing in detail qualitative equivalence with conventional nearest‐neighbor models. The process of obtaining base content, polymer, and oligomer parameters is illustrated, and for duplexes containing Watson–Crick pairs, fits to oligonucleotide duplex heat‐of‐formation data are shown to be statistically equivalent to existing models. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2004