Abstract
THE conservative nature of bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is clear from the narrow range of its guanosine–cytosine (GC) content compared with the base composition of whole cell DNA. The majority of bacterial DNAs contain from 35 to 75 % GC, whereas the GC content of rRNA is restricted to a narrow range of 50–53% (ref. 1). Indeed, the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of many bacterial species can be isolated from sheared preparations of whole cell DNA solely on the basis of its GC content. Furthermore, nucleic acid hybridisation has indicated considerable homology between the rRNAs of diverse bacterial species2–4 and helped provide phylogenetic support for taxo-nomic relationships. In an investigation of 22 different bacteria Pace and Campbell found that organisms whose rRNA showed closer homology to Escherichia coli rRNA, showed less rRNA homology to Bacillus stearothermophilus rRNA and vice versa2. Both sedimentation and gel electrophoresis studies in non-denaturing conditions have shown very small, if any, migratory differences between either the 23S or 16S rRNA species of different bacterial species5,6. By using a modified buffer system coupled with double labelling, we have found that both the large and small species of rRNA from Streptococcus faecalis, B. subtilis, and E. coli can be all distinguished on the basis of significant differences in their mobility in both composite polyacrylamide–Agarose gels and polyacrylamide gels.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pace, N. R., Bact. Rev., 37, 562–603 (1973).
Pace, B., and Campbell, L. L., J. Bact., 107, 543–547 (1971).
Dubnau, D., Smith, I., Morrell, P., and Marmur, J., Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 54, 491–496 (1965).
Takahashi, H., Saito, H., and Ikeda, Y., Biochim. biophys. Acta., 134, 124–133 (1967).
Taylor, M. M., Glascow, J. E., and Storck, R., Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 57, 164–169 (1967).
Loening, U. E., J. molec. Biol., 38, 355–365 (1968).
Nomura, M., Traub, P., and Bechmann, H., Nature, 219, 793–799 (1968).
Schuap, H. W., Best, J. B., and Goodman, A. B., Nature, 221, 864–872 (1969).
Morris, D. R., Dahlberg, J. E., and Dahlberg, A. E., Nucleic Acids Res., 2, 447–458 (1974).
Pinder, J. C., Staynov, D. Z., and Gratzer, W. B., Biochemistry, 13, 5367–5373 (1974).
Cooper, L. H., and Kay, J. E., Biochim. biophys. Acta., 174, 503–512 (1969).
Shatkin, A. J., Fundamental Techniques in Virology (edit. by Habel, K., and Salsman, N. P.), 231–237 (Academic, New York, 1969).
Peacock, A. C., and Dingman, C. W., Biochemistry, 7, 668 (1968).
Staynov, D. V., Pinder, J. C., and Gratzer, W. B., Nature new Biol., 235, 108–110 (1972).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
REFF, M., STANBRIDGE, E. Conformational differences in bacterial ribosomal RNAs in non-denaturing conditions. Nature 260, 724–726 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/260724a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/260724a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.