Small stable RNA of Neurospora crassa

Transfer RNA precursors are accumulated in Escherichia coli in the absence of RNase E

A temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli mutant, which contains a heat-labile RNase E, fails to produce 5-S rRNA at a non-permissive temperature. It accumulates a number of RNA molecules in the 4-12-S range. One of these molecules, a 9-S RNA, is a precursor to 5-S rRNA [Ghora, B. K. and Apirion, D. (1978) Cell, 15, 1055-1056]. These molecules were purified and processed in a cell-free system. Some of these RNA molecules, after processing, give rise to products the size of transfer RNA, but not to 5-S-rRNA. Further characterization of the processed products of one such precursor molecule shows that it contains tRNA1Leu and tRNA1His. RNase E is necessary but not sufficient for the processing of this molecule to mature tRNAs in vitro. The accumulation of such tRNA precursors in an RNase E mutant cell and the obligatory participation of RNase E in its processing indicate that RNase E functions in the maturation of transfer RNAs as well as of 5-S rRNA.

Gene rne affects the structure of the ribonucleic acid-processing enzyme ribonuclease E of Escherichia coli

The activity, ribonuclease E, isolated from an rne mutant was irreversibly inactivated at lower temperatures than ribonuclease E isolated from a wild-type strain. This observation suggests that the mutation rne-3071 affects the structure of the ribonculease E enzyme.

Electrophoretic transfer of DNA, RNA and protein onto diazobenzyloxymethyl (DBM) - paper

A method has been developed for the electrophoretic transfer of DNA, RNA, protein and ribonucleoprotein particles from a variety of gels onto diazobenzyloxymethyl (DBM) - paper. Conditions for the electrophoretic transfer of these macromolecules have been optimized to allow for nearly quantitative transfer and covalent coupling. DNA and RNA electrophoretically transferred to DBM-paper retain their ability to hybridize with specific probes. The high efficiency of transfer and the high capacity of DBM-paper for nucleic acids makes possible the sensitive detection of specific nucleotide sequences. Similar efficiency is achieved in electrophoretic transfer and covalent coupling of proteins to DBM-paper. Macromolecules can also be electrophoretically transferred and bound to DBM-paper incapable of covalent bond formation. Their elution from the paper in high salt provides a new and useful preparative method for isolation of DNA, RNA and protein.

Characterization of 10S RNA: a new stable rna molecule from Escherichia coli

When cells of Escherichia coli are labeled with 32Pi for long periods of time and the cell content is subjected to electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels, an RNA band appears which is about 10S in size. This band seems to contain three conformers. After treatment with formamide only a single band appears in this region of the gel, which contains 550 nucleotides as determined from its mobility. The complexity of the fingerprint of this material, after digestion with T1-RNase, is in agreement with the size as determined by the mobility, this confirming that indeed it is a single molecule. Composition of the T1-oligonucleotides was determined by digesting the T1-generated oligonucleotides with pancreatic RNase and T2-RNase. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of these digestions suggest that 10S RNA contains 609 nucleotides. The molecule contains, besides the four regular bases, one copy per molecule of the modified base pseudouridine. 10S RNA cannot be processed by cell extracts to tRNA-sized molecules and does not bind significantly to ribosomes, hence it is unlikely to be a tRNA precursor or an mRNA.

Repetitive DNA in Escherichia coli: multiple sequences complementary to small stable RNAs

Radioactively labeled 4.5S, 6S, and 10S RNAs from Escherichia coli were hybridized to EcoRI fragments from the E. coli genome. Each of these molecules bound to more than one DNA fragment. Cot curve analysis of the kinetics of the annealing of these RNAs to denatured E. coli DNA suggests that the DNA corresponding to each of these molecules is reiterated in the genome. These experiments also suggest that these reiterated sequences are non adjacent.