Fractionation of soluble ribonucleic acid on diethylaminoethyl Sephadex with a pH and salt gradient for elution.

A new method for the chromatographic fractionation of soluble ribonucleic acid (sRNA) is described. A gradient of increasing salt and pH is employed to elute sRNA from diethylaminoethyl Sephadex. The resolution of sRNA species for 10 different amino acids obtained with this method is presented. There is evidence that resolution is dependent upon a change in sRNA from a partially denatured state at the beginning of elution to the native state at the end. The method, which has a large input capacity, provides good resolution of certain sRNA species. It is convenient to use and can be adapted for either preparative or analytical work.