Fast alignment and comparison of RNA structures

Motivation: To recognize remote relationships between RNA molecules, one must be able to align structures without regard to sequence similarity. We have implemented a method, which is swift [O(n(2))], sensitive and tolerant of large gaps and insertions. Molecules are broken into overlapping fragments, which are characterized by their memberships in a probabilistic classification based on local geometry and H-bonding descriptors. This leads to a probabilistic similarity measure that is used in a conventional dynamic programming method. Results: Examples are given of database searching, the detection of structural similarities, which would not be found using sequence based methods, and comparisons with a previously published approach.