Primary structure of rat ribosomal protein L36a

Identification and genetic mapping of 151 dispersed members of 16 ribosomal protein multigene families in the mouse

More than 150 individual members of 16 ribosomal protein multigene families were identified as DNA restriction fragments and genetically mapped. The ribosomal protein gene-related sequences are widely dispersed throughout the mouse genome. Map positions were determined by analysis of 144 progeny mice from both an interspecific (C57BL/6J x SPRET/Ei)F1 x SPRET/Ei and an intersubspecific (C57BL/6J x CAST/Ei)F1 x C57BL/6J backcross. In addition, 30 members of the multigene families encoding PGK1 ODC, and TPI, including five new loci for ODC and one new locus for TPI, were characterized and mapped. Interspecific backcross linkage data for 29 nonecotropic murine leukemia retroviruses endogenous to C57BL/6J mice are also reported. Transmission ratio distortions and recombination frequencies are compared between the two backcrosses.

Natural cycloheximide resistance in yeast. The role of ribosomal protein L41

The yeast Kluyveromyces lactis is resistant to high concentrations (1 mg/ml) of the antibiotic cycloheximide. Using in vitro translation studies it was confirmed that this extreme resistance is a property of ribosomes. The resistance determinant from K. lactis was cloned into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the determinant demonstrated that resistance was conferred by the K. lactis ribosomal protein L41. K. lactis was shown to contain only one copy of the gene that encodes this protein and the gene was located to chromosome III. In contrast, S. cerevisiae was found to contain multiple copies of the gene for the corresponding ribosomal protein L41 which mapped to two of the three chromosomes V, XIV and VIII. Since the cycloheximide-resistance gene of K. lactis causes essentially complete protection against inhibition by the drug, it is likely to be particularly useful as a selective marker in eukaryotic gene transfer studies.

Two different genes from Schwanniomyces occidentalis determine ribosomal resistance to cycloheximide

Two genes (SCR1 and SCR2) encoding natural cycloheximide resistance in the budding yeast Schwanniomyces occidentalis have been cloned by expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both genes determine resistance to the inhibitory action of cycloheximide on the ribosome, SCR1 and SCR2 are present as single copies in Schwanniomyces occidentalis, where they map on chromosomes II and V, respectively. The nucleotide sequence of SCR2 contains an open reading frame of 321 nucleotides which is interrupted by an intron of 452 nucleotides. It encodes a polypeptide of 106 amino acids of molecular mass 12.25 kDa and pI 11.19. The deduced amino acid sequence shows a high degree of similarity to the L41 protein of the 60S ribosomal subunit from several eukaryotic organisms. The intron and the 5' non-coding region of SCR2 possess conserved elements which are typical of yeast ribosomal protein genes. A single amino acid change determines the resistance or sensitive phenotype to cycloheximide of the 80S ribosome since replacement of Gln56 in L41 from Schwanniomyces with Pro, by site-directed mutagenesis, confers cycloheximide sensitivity. SCR2 may serve as a practical yeast cloning marker if integrated in a multicopy plasmid.

Drastic alteration of cycloheximide sensitivity by substitution of one amino acid in the L41 ribosomal protein of yeasts

Cycloheximide is one of the antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis in most eukaryotic cells. We have found that a yeast, Candida maltosa, is resistant to the drug because it possesses a cycloheximide-resistant ribosome, and we have isolated the gene responsible for this. In this study, we sequenced this gene and found that the gene encodes a protein homologous to the L41 ribosomal protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, whose amino acid sequence has already been reported. Two genes for L41 protein, named L41a and L41b, independently present in the genome of S. cerevisiae, were isolated. L41-related genes were also isolated from a few other yeast species. Each of these genes has an intron at the same site of the open reading frame. Comparison of their deduced amino acid sequences and their ability to confer cycloheximide resistance to S. cerevisiae, when introduced in a high-copy-number plasmid, suggested that the 56th amino acid residue of the L41 protein determines the sensitivity of the ribosome to cycloheximide; the amino acid is glutamine in the resistant ribosome, whereas that in the sensitive ribosome is proline. This was confirmed by constructing a cycloheximide-resistant strain of S. cerevisiae having a disrupted L41a gene and an L41b gene with a substitution of the glutamine codon for the proline codon.

A strategy to detect and isolate an intron-containing gene in the presence of multiple processed pseudogenes

We have devised a strategy that utilizes the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection and isolation of intron-containing genes in the presence of an abundance of processed pseudogenes. The method depends on the genomic DNA sequence between the PCR primers spanning at least one intron in the gene of interest, resulting in the generation of a larger intron-containing PCR product in addition to the smaller PCR product amplified from the intronless pseudogenes. A unique intron probe isolated from the larger PCR product is used for the detection of intron-containing clones from recombinant DNA libraries that also contain pseudogene clones. This method has been used successfully for the selective isolation of an intron-containing rat L19 ribosomal protein gene in the presence of multiple pseudogenes. Analysis of a number of mammalian ribosomal protein multigene families by PCR indicates that they all contain only a single gene with introns.

The primary structure of rat ribosomal protein L37a

The amino acid sequence of rat ribosomal protein L37a was deduced from the sequence of nucleotides in recombinant cDNAs isolated in Yamagata and in Chicago and confirmed from the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein. Ribosomal protein L37a contains 91 amino acids (the NH2-terminal methionine is removed after translation of the mRNA) and has a molecular mass of 10143 Da.

The primary structure of rat ribosomal protein S4

The amino acid sequence of the rat 40 S ribosomal subunit protein S4 was deduced from the sequence of nucleotides in a recombinant cDNA and confirmed from the NH2-terminal amino-acid sequence of the protein. Ribosomal protein S4 has 282 amino acids (the NH2-terminal methionine is removed after translation of the mRNA) and has a molecular weight of 31,841. Hybridization of the cDNA to digests of nuclear DNA suggests that there are 7-11 copies of the S4 gene. The mRNA for the protein is about 1 kb in length. Rat S4 is homologous to Saccharomyces cerevisiae YS6. The protein contains a possible internal duplication of 11 residues.

The primary structure of rat ribosomal protein S10

The amino acid sequence of rat ribosomal protein S10 was deduced from the sequence of nucleotides in a recombinant cDNA and confirmed from the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein. Ribosomal protein S10 contains 165 amino acids and has a molecular mass of 18917 Da. Hybridization of the cDNA to digests of nuclear DNA suggests that there are 17-20 copies of the S10 gene. The mRNA for the protein is about 750 nucleotides in length. Ribosomal protein S10 has several possible internal duplications; one is a tandem repeat of ten residues that is basic and contains two or three prolines.

The primary structure of rat ribosomal protein L18a

The amino acid sequence of rat ribosomal protein L18a was deduced from the sequence of nucleotides in a recombinant cDNA. Ribosomal protein L18a contains 175 amino acids and has a molecular mass of 20,047 Da. Hybridization of the cDNA to digests of rat nuclear DNA and to a preparation of poly(A)+ mRNA suggests that there are 8-11 copies of the L18a gene and that the mRNA for the protein is about 700 nucleotides in length. Rat L18a is related to Schizosaccharomyces pombe L17 and perhaps to Halobacterium marismortui L19.