Before revision: RNA genes are ubiquitousin cell physiology , but the vast majority of non-coding RNAs are poorly understood. Knowledge of 3D structure can help elucidate the function, but in silico 3D structure prediction for large RNAs requires tertiary contacts between distant secondary structural elements that are difficult to infer with existing methods. Using a global probability model of sequence co-variation , we predict contact with 65-90\% precision and capture many long-range tertiary contacts, including non-Watson-Crick interactions .
After revision: RNA genes are ubiquitousin cell physiology , but the discovery of new RNA gene sequences far outpaces research on their structure and functional interactions. We mine the evolutionary sequence record to derive precise information about function and structure of RNAs and RNA-protein complexes. As in protein structure prediction, we use maximum entropy global probability models of sequence co-variation , we predict contact with 65-90\% precision and capture many long-range tertiary contacts, including non-Watson-Crick interactions .