Cited by 13,404RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsProtein Structure and DynamicsDNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry

Mfold web server for nucleic acid folding and hybridization prediction

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Zuker, M.·2003·Nucleic Acids Research

Abstract

The abbreviated name, 'mfold web server', describes a number of closely related software applications available on the World Wide Web (WWW) for the prediction of the secondary structure of single stranded nucleic acids. The objective of this web server is to provide easy access to RNA and DNA folding and hybridization software to the scientific community at large. By making use of universally available web GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), the server circumvents the problem of portability of this software. Detailed output, in the form of structure plots with or without reliability information, single strand frequency plots and 'energy dot plots', are available for the folding of single sequences. A variety of 'bulk' servers give less information, but in a shorter time and for up to hundreds of sequences at once. The portal for the mfold web server is http://www.bioinfo.rpi.edu/applications/mfold. This URL will be referred to as 'MFOLDROOT'.

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Crossref · 10.1093/nar/gkg595

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  • Traditional methods such as the Zuker algorithm and its derivatives, MFold and ViennaRNA, use dynamic programming to evaluate thermodynamic stability.

    “Traditional methods such as the Zuker algorithm and its derivatives, MFold and ViennaRNA, use dynamic programming to evaluate thermodynamic stability [6], [7], [8].”

    From Towards secondary structure prediction of longer mRNA sequences using a quantum-centric optimization scheme (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says that RNA-folding algorithms use dynamic programming and that mfold predicts minimum free-energy foldings, supporting the claim about mfold’s thermodynamic approach. Our copy does not identify ViennaRNA as a derivative of the Zuker algorithm or describe its method, so it does not support the full sentence. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Most selected templates had a low tendency to form stable secondary structure, as judged by mfold.

    “Firstly, the majority of the template sequences exhibited a low propensity to form stable secondary structure elements (as judged by mfold26).”

    From In-ice evolution of RNA polymerase ribozyme activity (2013) · cites this paper as [26]

  • Mfold analysis showed that the clustered 4-bp deletions in patients 1, 6 and 8 lie in the stem of the same short hairpin.

    “Mfold analysis (web server for nucleic acid folding and hybridization prediction)27 showed that the clustered 4bp deletions of patients 1, 6 and 8 are located in the stem of the same short hairpin (Supplementary Fig. 2).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Waterman,M.S. (1978) Secondary structure of single-stranded nucleic acids. In Rota, G.-C. (ed.), Studies in Foundations and Combinatorics number 1 in Advances in Mathematics, Supplementary Studies. Academic Press, NY, pp. 167-212.
  2. Sankoff,D., Kruskal,J.B., Mainville,S. and Cedergren,R.J. (1983) Fast algorithms to determine RNA secondary structures containing multiple loops. chapter 3. In Sankoff,D. and Kruskal,J.B. (eds), Time Warps, String Edits, and Macromolecules: The Theory and Practice of Sequence Comparison, Addison-Wesley Reading, MA, pp. 93-120.

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Authors
Zuker, M.
Affiliations
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Zuker, M.
Venue
Nucleic Acids Research
Published
2003-07-01
Volume
31
Issue
13
Pages
3406-3415
ISSN
  • 0305-1048 (ISSN-L)
  • 1362-4962
OpenAlex
W2141157874
Cited by
13,404
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 320 · 2025: 487 · 2024: 535 · 2023: 536 · 2022: 575 · 2021: 620 · 2020: 615 · 2019: 625 · 2018: 596 · 2017: 653 · 2016: 634 · 2015: 672 · 2014: 681 · 2013: 716 · 2012: 686
FWCI
151.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nucleic Acids Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM54250, R01GM054250)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
Keywords
RNA secondary structure prediction, single-stranded nucleic acids, web application, graphical user interface
MeSH terms
Base Sequence, Computer Graphics, DNA, DNA, Single-Stranded, Models, Molecular, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Nucleic Acid Denaturation, Nucleic Acid Hybridization, RNA, Software, Thermodynamics, User-Computer Interface, Internet, Databases, Nucleic Acid

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