Figure 5.

Corrected: rRAP Exhibits an Intrinsic RNA Binding Capacity.

(A) Purification of rRAP protein. Coomassie blue–stained SDS-PAGE gel showing the affinity-purified rRAP protein after removal of the maltose binding protein tag that was electrophoresed alongside authentic MBP. Mobilities of size markers are indicated on the left.

(B) UV cross-linking experiment. Purified rRAP protein, together with two control proteins (MBP and the RNA binding protein RBP40), was analyzed after UV cross-linking in the presence of a radiolabeled RNA probe corresponding to the 5′ pre-16S region. Sizes of marker bands are given in kilodaltons on the left.

The PCR product used as DNA template for in vitro synthesis of the 5′ pre-16S rRNA region was amplified using the following set of primers: 16S 5′ (−139) T7 forward (5′-taatacgactcactatagggGGTAGGGGTAGCTATATTTCTG-3′) and 16S 5′ (+57) reverse (5′-ATGTGTTAAGCATGCCGC-3′).