RNA secondary structure:
Most RNA molecules are single-stranded but an RNA molecule should hold regions that can form complementary base pairing where the RNA strand loops back on itself in the above figure. If so, the RNA will have some double-stranded regions. The Ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and transfer RNAs (tRNAs) exhibit substantial secondary structure, as do some messenger RNAs (mRNAs).
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figure: An example of self-complementarity in RNA, forming an internal double-stranded region; hydrogen bonding between bases is shown by the symbol.