The nucleotide sequence of 4.5S ribosomal RNA from tobacco chloroplasts.

The nucleotide sequence of tobacco chloroplast 4.5S ribosomal RNA has been determined to be: OHG-A-A-G-G-U-C-A-C-G-G-C-G-A-G-A-C-G-A-G-C-C-G-U-U-U-A-U-C-A-U-U-A-C-G-A-U-A-G-G-U-G-U-C-A-A-G-U-G-G-A-A-G-U-G-C-A-G-U-G-A-U-G-U-A-U-G-C-(G-A)-C-U-G-A-G-G-C-A-U-C-C-U-A-A-C-A-G-A-C-C-G-G-U-A-G-A-C-U-U-G-A-A-COH. The 4.5S RNA is 103 nucleotides long and its 5'-terminus is not phosphorylated.     

Phylogenetic relationships among Thunnus species inferred from rDNA ITS1 sequence

Intra and interspecific nucleotide sequence variation of rDNA first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) was analysed using all eight species of the genus Thunnus plus two out‐group species within the same family, skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis and striped bonito Sarda orientalis . Intraspecific nucleotide sequence variation in ITS1, including intra‐genomic variation, was low, ranging from 0·003 to 0·014 [Kimura's two parameter distance (K2P)], whereas variation between species within the genus Thunnus ranged from 0·009 to 0·05. The Atlantic and Pacific northern bluefin tunas Thunnus thynnus thynnus and Thunnus thynnus orientalis , recently proposed to be distinct species, were found to share nearly identical ITS1 sequences (mean K2P = 0·006) well within the range of intraspecific variation. The northern bluefin tuna appeared to be a sister group to albacore Thunnus alalunga , with all other Thunnus species in a distinct clade. The ITS1 phylogeny was consistent with mtDNA phylogeny in clustering the three tropical Thunnus species ( T. albacares , T. atlanticus and T. tonggol ). Southern bluefin Thunnus maccoyii and bigeye Thunnus obesus tunas showed a closer affinity to this tropical tuna group than to the northern bluefin tuna and albacore. The molecular data supported mitochondrial introgression between species and contradicted morphological subdivision of the genus into two subgenera Neothunnus and Thunnus .     

Nucleotide sequence of 4.5S RNA (C8 or hY5) from HeLa cells

The nucleotide sequence of C8 RNA, one of the 4.5S RNAs of HeLa cells, was determined. C8 RNA consists of 83 or 84 nucleotide residues containing pppA at its 5′-terminus and oligo U at its 3′-terminus. This RNA is rich in uridylate residues (about 38%) and does not have any modified nucleosides. C8 RNA is present mainly in the cytoplasm, with some in the nucleus and the C8 RNAs from the nucleus and cytoplasm have the same sequence.     

The functional analysis of 4.5S RNA in ribosomal translocation.

4.5S RNA is a stable 114-nucleotide RNA of the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). We found that 4.5S RNA have the ability of binding EF-G using gel mobility shift assay. Increasing in the concentration of GDP increase the binding activity of 4.5S RNA to EF-G. Based on these data, we propose that 4.5S RNA release EF-G from ribosome.     

Preliminary molecular phylogeny of the fishes based on sequence analysis of 28S ribosomal RNA

"Fish" phylogeny has been studied using partial 28 S ribosomal RNA sequences of 14 species among which 12 are "fish" ranging from lamprey to perciforms. Our results are in good agreement with generally accepted cladograms based on anatomical and paleontological data. Two interesting conclusions emerged: a) Polypterus is the sister-group of all other actinopterygians; b) the divergences of the Clasdistia, Tetrapoda and Chondrichthyes seem to have occurred during a relatively short period of time.     

Phylogenetic relationships among Phytophthora species inferred from sequence analysis of mitochondrially encoded cytochrome oxidase I and II genes

The phylogenetic relationships of 51 isolates representing 27 species of Phytophthora were assessed by sequence alignment of 568 bp of the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome oxidase II gene. A total of 1299 bp of the cytochrome oxidase I gene also were examined for a subset of 13 species. The cox II gene trees constructed by a heuristic search, based on maximum parsimony for a bootstrap 50% majority-rule consensus tree, revealed 18 species grouping into seven clades and nine species unaffiliated with a specific clade. The phylogenetic relationships among species observed on cox II gene trees did not exhibit consistent similarities in groupings for morphology, pathogenicity, host range or temperature optima. The topology of cox I gene trees, constructed by a heuristic search based on maximum parsimony for a bootstrap 50% majority-rule consensus tree for 13 species of Phytophthora, revealed 10 species grouping into three clades and three species unaffiliated with a specific clade. The groupings in general agreed with what was observed in the cox II tree. Species relationships observed for the cox II gene tree were in agreement with those based on ITS regions, with several notable exceptions. Some of these differences were noted in species in which the same isolates were used for both ITS and cox II analysis, suggesting either a differential rate of evolutionary divergence for these two regions or incorrect assumptions about alignment of ITS sequences. Analysis of combined data sets of ITS and cox II sequences generated a tree that did not differ substantially from analysis of ITS data alone, however, the results of a partition homogeneity test suggest that combining data sets may not be valid.     

Nucleotide sequences of the 4.5 S and 5 S ribosomal RNA genes from tobacco chloroplasts

Summary The DNA sequences of the 4.5 S and 5 S RNA genes from tobacco chloroplasts have been determined. The coding regions for the mature 4.5 S and 5 S RNAs were identified by sequencing these RNAs. The 4.5 S and 5 S RNA genes are composed of 103 and 121 base pairs respectively. These two genes are separated by the 256 base pair spacer. Several unique features in the spacer and in the region downstream from the 5 S coding region are discussed.     

16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis for determination of phylogenetic relationship among methylotrophs.

16S ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) of 12 methylotrophic bacteria have been almost completely sequenced to establish their phylogenetic relationships. Methylotrophs that are physiologically related are phylogenetically diverse and are scattered among the purple eubacteria (class Proteobacteria). Group I methylotrophs can be classified in the beta- and the gamma-subdivisions and group II methylotrophs in the alpha-subdivision of the purple eubacteria, respectively. Pink-pigmented facultative and non-pigmented obligate group II methylotrophs form two distinctly separate branches within the alpha-subdivision. The secondary structures of the 16S rRNA sequences of 'Methylocystis parvus' strain OBBP, 'Methylosinus trichosporium' strain OB3b, 'Methylosporovibrio methanica' strain 81Z and Hyphomicrobium sp. strain DM2 are similar, and these non-pigmented obligate group II methylotrophs form one tight cluster in the alpha-subdivision. The pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs, Methylobacterium extorquens strain AM1, Methylobacterium sp. strain DM4 and Methylobacterium organophilum strain XX form another cluster within the alpha-subdivision. Although similar in phenotypic characteristics, Methylobacterium organophilum strain XX and Methylobacterium extorquens strain AM1 are clearly distinguishable by their 16S rRNA sequences. The group I methylotrophs, Methylophilus methylotrophus strain AS1 and methylotrophic species DM11, which do not utilize methane, are similar in 16S rRNA sequence to bacteria in the beta-subdivision. The methane-utilizing, obligate group I methanotrophs, Methylococcus capsulatus strain BATH and Methylomonas methanica, are placed in the gamma-subdivision. The results demonstrate that it is possible to distinguish and classify the methylotrophic bacteria using 16S rRNA sequence analysis.     

Phylogenetic relationships among Southern Balkan Rutilus species inferred from cytochrome b sequence analysis: Micro-geographic resolution and taxonomic implications

The phylogenetic relationships and geographic distribution of Greek roaches (Rutilus spp.) were investigated by analyzing the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence of 84 specimens collected from 15 southern Balkan lakes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of five highly divergent haplotype groups with mean pairwise sequence divergence between them ranging from 4.1 to 9%, namely at the level of values reported for different species. These five groups correspond to four species namely Rutilus rutilus, Rutilus prespensis, Rutilus panosi and Rutilus ylikiensis. On the other hand, the existence of two highly divergent haplotype groups, which are currently attributed to R. rutilus, suggests the re-examination of the current taxonomic status of this species.     

Phylogenetic relationships among cultivated Allium species from restriction enzyme analysis of the chloroplast genome

Summary The genus Allium contains many economically important species, including the bulb onion, chive, garlic, Japanese bunching onion, and leek. Phylogenetic relationships among the cultivated alliums are not well understood, and taxonomic classifications are based on relatively few morphological characters. Chloroplast DNA is highly conserved and useful in determining phylogenetic relationships. The size of the chloroplast genome of Allium cepa was estimated at 140 kb and restriction enzyme sites were mapped for KpnI, PstI, PvuII, SalI, XbaI, and XhoI. Variability at restriction enzyme sites in the chloroplast DNA was studied for at least three accessions of each of six cultivated, old-world Allium species. Of 189 restriction enzyme sites detected with 12 enzymes, 15 mutations were identified and used to estimate phylogenetic relationships. Cladistic analysis based on Wagner and Dollo parsimony resulted in a single, most-parsimonious tree of 16 steps and supported division of the species into sections. Allium species in section Porrum were distinguished from species in sections Cepa and Phyllodolon. Two species in section Rhiziridium, A. schoenoprasum and A. tuberosum, differed by five mutations and were placed in separate lineages. Allium cepa and A. fistulosum shared the loss of a restriction enzyme site and were phylogenetically closer to each other than to A. schoenoprasum. This study demonstrates the usefulness of restriction enzyme site analysis of the chloroplast genome in the elucidation of phylogenetic relationships in Allium.