Nucleic Acids Research, 1988, Vol. 16, No. 16 7885-7899
© 1988
Articles |
The tRNAGtm2 gene in the rrnB operon of E.coli is a prerequisite for correct RNase III processing in vitro
,*Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik Abteilung Wittmann, Ihnestrasse 73, D-1000 Berlin 33, FRG 1Department of Biochemistry, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
+Present address: Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305–5324, USA
Present address: Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 4000 Düsseldorf 1, FRG
*To whom correspondence should be addressed
Received May 16, 1988. Accepted July 15, 1988.
RNase III cleaves precursor 16S RNA and precursor 23S RNA from the ribosomol RNA transcript. In vitro transcription experiments, using plasmids with the rrnB operon truncated in the 16S RNA and with various deletions in the spacer tRNA region, showed that no matter what size of deletion if the tRNA gene was affected RNase III processing of 16S RNA became incomplete. In comparision to a control plasmid, where only the 16S RNA gene was truncated and that showed normal RNA processing, plasmids where the tRNA gene was deleted partially or totally either the 5' or the 3' end of 16S RNA was processed. This relation between RNase III processing and the 3-dimensional structure of tRNA suggests an interaction between RNase III and a tRNA processing enzyme most probably RNase P.