... re-gions in mRNA: base pair formation between the 3terminus of 16S rRNA and t he mRNA during initiation of protein syn-thesis in Escherichia coli,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of ... hybridization between the single-stranded, 3-terminal nucleotides of the 16S rRNA and the spatially accessible window of mRNA sequence, from which a free energy value can be calculated. Using ... polymerization by primase during DNA replica-tion [1], snRNA hybridization to pre -mRNA sequences dur-ing intron splicing [2], and siRNA hybridization to mRNAs during gene silencing [3]. In translation, ...