Memory efficient folding algorithms for circular RNA secondary structures.
BACKGROUND
A small class of RNA molecules, in particular the tiny genomes of viroids, are circular. Yet most structure prediction algorithms handle only linear RNAs. The most straightforward approach is to compute circular structures from 'internal' and 'external' substructures separated by a base pair. This is incompatible, however, with the memory-saving approach of the Vienna RNA Package which builds a linear RNA structure from shorter (internal) structures only.


RESULTS
Here we describe how circular secondary structures can be obtained without additional memory requirements as a kind of 'post-processing' of the linear structures.


BACKGROUND
The circular folding algorithm is implemented in the current version of the of RNAfold program of the Vienna RNA Package, which can be downloaded from http://www.tbi.univie.ac.at/RNA/
Hofacker
Ivo L
IL
Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna Währingerstr. 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
Stadler
Peter F
PF
D000465:Algorithms; D001483:Base Sequence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003205:Computing Methodologies; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software
D012313:RNA