Skip to main content
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1971 Jun;123(2):235–243. doi: 10.1042/bj1230235

The molecular integrity of chloroplast ribosomal ribonucleic acid

C J Leaver 1,*, J Ingle 1
PMCID: PMC1176928  PMID: 5001778

Abstract

Instability of chloroplast rRNA has been observed with essentially all chloroplast RNA preparations. This paper describes experiments that show that, under normal conditions of preparation and fractionation, only the heavy chloroplast component (mol.wt. 1.1×106) is unstable, the light chloroplast rRNA (mol.wt. 0.56×106) and the cytoplasmic rRNA species (mol.wt. 1.3×106 and 0.70×106) being stable. The stability of the 1.1×106-mol. wt. molecule varies with different plant species, as also does the size and the number of fragments produced. Cleavages in three particular regions of the molecule are very frequent within the range of tissues studied. The 1.1×106-mol.wt. rRNA is, however, stabilized by the presence of Mg2+ during the preparation and fractionation of the RNA.

Full text

PDF
237

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BRAWERMAN G., EISENSTADT J. M. TEMPLATE AND RIBOSOMAL RIBONUCLEIC ACIDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHLOROPLASTS AND THE CYTOPLASM OF EUGLENA GRACILIS. J Mol Biol. 1964 Dec;10:403–411. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(64)80061-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bishop D. H., Claybrook J. R., Spiegelman S. Electrophoretic separation of viral nucleic acids on polyacrylamide gels. J Mol Biol. 1967 Jun 28;26(3):373–387. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(67)90310-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cockburn W., Walker D. A., Baldry C. W. The isolation of spinach chloroplasts in pyrophosphate media. Plant Physiol. 1968 Sep;43(9):1415–1418. doi: 10.1104/pp.43.9.1415. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ingle J., Burns R. G. The loss of ribosomal ribonucleic acid during the preparationof nucleic acid from certain plant tissues by the detergent-phenol method. Biochem J. 1968 Dec;110(3):605–606. doi: 10.1042/bj1100605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ingle J. Synthesis and Stability of Chloroplast Ribosomal-RNA's. Plant Physiol. 1968 Sep;43(9):1448–1454. doi: 10.1104/pp.43.9.1448. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ingle J. The regulation of activity of the enzymes involved in the assimilation of nitrate by higher plants. Biochem J. 1966 Sep;100(3):577–588. doi: 10.1042/bj1000577. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lessie T. G. The atypical ribosomal RNA complement of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides. J Gen Microbiol. 1965 Jun;39(3):311–320. doi: 10.1099/00221287-39-3-311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Loening U. E., Ingle J. Diversity of RNA components in green plant tissues. Nature. 1967 Jul 22;215(5099):363–367. doi: 10.1038/215363a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Loening U. E. Molecular weights of ribosomal RNA in relation to evolution. J Mol Biol. 1968 Dec;38(3):355–365. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(68)90391-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Loening U. E. The fractionation of high-molecular-weight ribonucleic acid by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Biochem J. 1967 Jan;102(1):251–257. doi: 10.1042/bj1020251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MIDGLEY J. E. EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT EXTRACTION PROCEDURES ON THE MOLECULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF BACTERIAL RIBOSOMAL RIBONUCLEIC ACID. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1965 Feb 8;95:232–243. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(65)90488-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Spencer D., Whitfeld P. R. The nature of the ribonucleic acid of isolated chloroplasts. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1966 Nov;117(2):337–346. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(66)90421-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stutz E., Noll H. Characterization of cytoplasmic and chloroplast polysomes in plants: evidence for three classes of ribosomal RNA in nature. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Mar;57(3):774–781. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.3.774. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Zeldin M. H., Schiff J. A. RNA metabolism during light-induced chloroplast development in euglena. Plant Physiol. 1967 Jul;42(7):922–932. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.7.922. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES