General abbreviations

amu

Atomic mass unit

ESI

Electrospray ionisation

eV

Electron Volt

FAB

Fast atom bombardment

Da

Dalton

dc

Direct current

FIA

Flow injection analysis

HPLC

High performance liquid chromatography

k$_{cat}$

Catalytic constant

K$_m$

MICHAELIS constant

LC

Liquid chromatography

m/z

Mass-to-charge ratio

MALDI

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation

MS

Mass spectrometry

mM

Millimolar, 10$^{-3}$ ${}^{mol}\!\!/\!{}_{l}$

$\mu$l

Microlitre, 10$^{-6}$ l

$\mu$M

Micromolar, 10$^{-6}$ ${}^{mol}\!\!/\!{}_{l}$

NANOES

Nano-electrospray

nM

Nanomolar, 10$^{-9}$ ${}^{mol}\!\!/\!{}_{l}$

ODE

Ordinary differential equation

PD

Plasma desorption

PSD

Post source decay

rf

Radio frequency

RNA

Ribonucleic acid

RNase T1

Ribonuclease T1, EC 3.1.27.3

RNase T1 RV

Ribonuclease T1, Variant 9/5 (sequence altered between amino acid residue 41 and 46 to EFRNWN)

SIMS

Secondary ion mass spectrometry

ssRNA

Single stranded ribonucleic acid

TBP

Trigonal bipyramidal phosphorane

TIC

Total ion current

TLC

Thin layer chromatography

TOF

Time of flight

UV

Ultra violet

V$_{max}$

Maximum velocity

wt

Wild type

XIC

Extracted ion current