Selective in vitro transcription of Euglena chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes by a transcriptionally active chromosome.

The specificity of transcription of Euglena gracilis Z chloroplast DNA by chloroplast DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in a transcriptionally active chromosome (Hallick, R.B., Lipper, C., Richards, O.C., and Rutter, W.J. (1976) Biochemistry 15, 3039-3045) has been studied. RNA molecules are both initiated and elongated in vitro. The RNA transcripts have been characterized as to their size, nuclease sensitivity, 5'-terminal oligonucleotides, and coding locus on the chloroplast genome. RNA labeled in vitro at the 5' end with [gamma-32P]ATP was digested with RNase T1, RNase A, and S1 nuclease. The resulting 5'-gamma-32P-oligonucleotides were fractionated by gel electrophoresis. In each case, one or two discrete products were obtained, consistent with initiation in vitro only at defined loci. RNA labeled in vitro with [alpha-32P]ATP or CTP has been hybridized to Southern (Southern, E.M. (1975) J. Mol. Biol. 98, 503-517) transfers of restriction endonuclease fragments of chloroplast DNA. The most abundant in vitro transcripts hybridize to chloroplast DNA fragments coding for 23 S, 16 S, and 5 S rRNAs. Only the coding strands of the rRNA genes are transcribed. Non-rDNA sequences of chloroplast DNA are also selectively transcribed but at much lower levels. The transcriptionally active chromosome has proved to be an ideal biochemical preparation for the study of selective transcription of cell organelle DNA.