Résumé : Together with the elution pattern of pure messenger RNA molecules of various origin, the labelling kinetics of rapidly labelled heteroge-neously sedimenting RNA (HSRNA) extracted from polysomes of HeLa cells have been studied by chromatography on columns made of methylated bovine serum albumin adsorbed on kieselguhr. HSRNA is eluted within three peaks - Ip, Q2P and TDP - following in that order the increase of NaCl concentration in the eluting buffer. Besides peak TDP which results from an experimental artefact, our data suggest that the appearance of peaks lp and Q2P reflects the absence and presence respectively of polyadenylic acid stretches in these molecules. Within peak Q2P, the critical factor affecting the order of elution is the size of the polyadenylic acid stretch. © 1976 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.