RNase L-independent specific 28S rRNA cleavage in murine coronavirus-infected cells

We characterized a novel 28S rRNA cleavage in cells infected with the murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV). The 28S rRNA cleavage occurred as early as 4 h postinfection (p.i.) in MHV-infected DBT cells, with the appearance of subsequent cleavage products and a decrease in the amount of intact 28S rRNA with increasing times of infection; almost all of the intact 28S rRNA disappeared by 24 h p.i. In contrast, no specific 18S rRNA cleavage was detected in infected cells. MHV-induced 28S rRNA cleavage was detected in all MHV-susceptible cell lines and all MHV strains tested. MHV replication was required for the 28S rRNA cleavage, and mature cytoplasmic 28S rRNA underwent cleavage. In certain combination of cells and viruses, pretreatment of virus-infected cells with interferon activates a cellular endoribonuclease, RNase L, that causes rRNA degradation. No interferon was detected in the inoculum used for MHV infection. Addition of anti-interferon antibody to MHV-infected cells did not inhibit 28S rRNA cleavage. Furthermore, 28S rRNA cleavage occurred in an MHV-infected mouse embryonic fibroblast cell line derived from RNase L knockout mice. Thus, MHV-induced 28S rRNA cleavage was independent of the activation of RNase L. MHV-induced 28S rRNA cleavage was also different from apoptosis-related rRNA degradation, which usually occurs concomitantly with DNA fragmentation. In MHV-infected 17Cl-1 cells, 28S rRNA cleavage preceded DNA fragmentation by at least 18 h. Blockage of apoptosis in MHV-infected 17Cl-1 cells by treatment with a caspase inhibitor did not block 28S rRNA cleavage. Furthermore, MHV-induced 28S rRNA cleavage occurred in MHV-infected DBT cells that do not show apoptotic signs, including activation of caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation. Thus, MHV-induced 28S rRNA cleavage appeared to differ from any rRNA degradation mechanism described previously.     

Nucleotide sequence of the single ribosomal RNA operon of pea chloroplast DNA

The nucleotide sequence of an 8 kbp region of pea ( Pisum sativum L.) chloroplast DNA containing the rRNA operon and putative promoter sites has been determined and compared to the corresponding sequences from maize, tobacco and the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha . The chloroplast DNA species of all vascular plants investigated, with the exception of a few legumes including pea, and of Marchantia contain an inverted repeat with an rRNA operon. The pea rRNA operon is the first sequenced rRNA operon from a plant with only one copy of the rRNA genes per molecule of chloroplast DNA. The organization of the operon is the same as for maize, tobacco and Marchantia . i.e. tRNA-Val gene/16S rRNA gene/spacer with intron-containing genes for tRNA-Ile and tRNA-Ala/23S rRNA gene/4.5S rRNA gene/5S rRNA gene. Current evidence suggests that the tRNA-Val gene may not be contranscribed with the other genes. For pea 16S, 23S, 4.5S and 5S rRNA have 1488, 2813, 105 and 121 nucleotides, respectively. The homologies of the entire operon (the tRNA-Val gene - 5S rRNA region) to those from tobacco, maize and Marchantia are 88, 82 and 79%, respectively. The corresponding homologies for tobacco/maize, tobacco/ Marchantia and maize/ Marchantia have similar values. The 16S and 23S rRNA genes from pea are more than 90% homologous to those from the 3 other species. We conclude that the fact that pea only has one set of rRNA genes per molecule of chloroplast DNA is apparently not correlated with any significant difference between the pea operon and the rRNA operons from tobacco, maize and Marchantia .     

5S rRNA sequences of myxobacteria and radioresistant bacteria and implications for eubacterial evolution

5S rRNA sequences were determined for the myxobacteria Cystobacter fuscus, Myxococcus coralloides, Sorangium cellulosum, and Nannocystis exedens and for the radioresistant bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans and Deinococcus radiophilus. A dendrogram was constructed by using weighted pairwise grouping based on these and all other previously known eubacterial 5S rRNA sequences, and this dendrogram showed differences as well as similarities compared with results derived from 16S rRNA analyses. In the dendrogram, Deinococcus 5S rRNA sequences clustered with 5S rRNA sequences of the genus Thermus, as suggested by the results of 16S rRNA analyses. However, in contrast to the 16S rRNA results, the Deinococcus-Thermus cluster divided the 5S rRNA sequences of the alpha subdivision of the class Proteobacteria from the 5S rRNA sequences of the beta and gamma subgroups of the Proteobacteria. The myxobacterial 5S rRNA sequence data failed to confirm the existence of a delta subgroup of the class Proteobacteria, which was suggested by the results of 16S rRNA analyses.     

向日葵rRNA基因克隆及其染色体定位研究

该研究以内葵杂3号三交种为材料,采用同源序列法克隆了5SrRNA和18SrRNA基因并进行了序列测定,测得片段长度分别为515bp和1808bp。以5SrRNA、18SrRNA和45SrRNA基因为探针,分别与内葵杂3号三交种染色体进行荧光原位杂交（FISH）分析。结果表明：45SrRNA和18SrRNA基因均得到3对杂交信号且位点分布相同,分别位于第3对和第10对染色体及第2对随体染色体的短臂末端;5SrRNA基因的信号位点共有2对,分布在第7对和第10对染色体短臂端部。     

Construction and Initial Characterization of Escherichia coli Strains with Few or No Intact Chromosomal rRNA Operons

The Escherichia coli genome carries seven rRNA (rrn) operons, each containing three rRNA genes. The presence of multiple operons has been an obstacle to many studies of rRNA because the effect of mutations in one operon is diluted by the six remaining wild-type copies. To create a tool useful for manipulating rRNA, we sequentially inactivated from one to all seven of these operons with deletions spanning the 16S and 23S rRNA genes. In the final strain, carrying no intact rRNA operon on the chromosome, rRNA molecules were expressed from a multicopy plasmid containing a single rRNA operon (prrn). Characterization of these rrn deletion strains revealed that deletion of two operons was required to observe a reduction in the growth rate and rRNA/protein ratio. When the number of deletions was extended from three to six, the decrease in the growth rate was slightly more than the decrease in the rRNA/protein ratio, suggesting that ribosome efficiency was reduced. This reduction was most pronounced in the Delta7 prrn strain, in which the growth rate, unlike the rRNA/protein ratio, was not completely restored to wild-type levels by a cloned rRNA operon. The decreases in growth rate and rRNA/protein ratio were surprisingly moderate in the rrn deletion strains; the presence of even a single operon on the chromosome was able to produce as much as 56% of wild-type levels of rRNA. We discuss possible applications of these strains in rRNA studies.     

Cloning of a gene involved in rRNA precursor processing and 23S rRNA cleavage in Rhodobacter capsulatus.

In Rhodobacter capsulatus wild-type strains, the 23S rRNA is cleaved into [16S] and [14S] rRNA molecules. Our data show that a region predicted to form a hairpin-loop structure is removed from the 23S rRNA during this processing step. We have analyzed the processing of rRNA in the wild type and in the mutant strain Fm65, which does not cleave the 23S rRNA. In addition to the lack of 23S rRNA processing, strain Fm65 shows impeded processing of a larger 5.6-kb rRNA precursor and slow maturation of 23S and 16S rRNAs from pre-23S and pre-16S rRNA species. Similar effects have also been described previously for Escherichia coli RNase III mutants. Processing of the 5.6-kb precursor was independent of protein synthesis, while the cleavage of 23S rRNA to generate 16S and 14S rRNA required protein synthesis. We identified a DNA fragment of the wild-type R. capsulatus chromosome that conferred normal processing of 5.6-kb rRNA and 23S rRNA when it was expressed in strain Fm65.     

Accelerated rates of ribosomal RNA synthesis during growth of contracting heart cells in culture

Contractile activity of neonatal cardiac myocytes stimulated hypertrophic growth as compared with nonbeating cells that were depolarized with 50 mM KCl. Growth of contracting myocytes was associated with an increased rRNA content as measured by the total RNA/DNA ratio. The fractional rates of rRNA synthesis (K8) and rRNA degradation were determined in contracting and nonbeating myocytes to assess their relative contributions in increasing rRNA content during growth. The values for K8 were calculated from the specific radioactivity of 3'-[3H]UMP in 18 and 28 S rRNA after purification by hybridization to cloned rDNA. The cellular [3H]UTP pool served as the precursor for rRNA synthesis in myocytes that were labeled with 50 microM [3H]uridine. K8 values for 18 and 28 S rRNA in contracting myocytes were accelerated by 59 and 53%, respectively, after 3 days as compared with nonbeating myocytes. Calculations of the rate of cellular rRNA synthesis, which took into account the increased content of myocyte rRNA, revealed that synthesis of both 18 and 28 S rRNA was accelerated 2-fold after 2 days of contraction. The derived values for degradation of 18 and 28 S rRNA were increased marginally in contracting myocytes, but cellular rRNA degradation rates averaged 57% higher. The difference between cellular rates of rRNA synthesis and degradation in contracting myocytes accounted for the 30% increase in rRNA content. These data demonstrated that increased rRNA content in contracting myocytes resulted from acceleration of the fractional rate of rRNA synthesis.     

Barcoding marine nematodes: an improved set of nematode 18S rRNA primers to overcome eukaryotic co-interference

Nematodes form an important component of many benthic marine ecosystems and DNA barcoding approaches could provide an insight into nematode community composition from different environments globally. We have amplified nematode 18S rRNA sequences using standard nematode18S rRNA primers from environmental DNA extracted from intertidal sediment collected from New Jersey coast, USA to test whether the published marine nematode 18S rRNA sequences from GenBank and EMBL databases can effectively assign unknown nematode sequences into genus or species level. Most of the sequenced clones showed some degree of identities with published marine nematode 18S rRNA sequences. However, relatively very few of the sequences could be assigned even to genus level based on sequence assignment rule. In addition, other eukaryotic 18S rRNA sequences were found to be co-amplified with commonly used nematode 18S rRNA primers. We found that the majority of the current nematode 18S rRNA primers will co-amplify other eukaryotes if environmental DNA is the target template. We therefore designed a new set of nematode 18S rRNA primers and evaluated them using environmental DNA in intertidal sediment from the New Jersey coast. In total, 40 clones were screened and subsequently sequenced and all the sequences showed varying degree of identities with published nematode 18S rRNA sequences from GenBank and EMBL databases, and no obvious eukaryotic co-amplicons were detected with new primers. Only 13 out of 40 clones amplified with the new primer set showed 100% identity to published Daptonema and Metachromadora 18S rRNA sequences. The current molecular databases for nematodes are dominated by sequences from NW Europe and need to be more extensively populated with new full length 18S rRNA nematode sequences collected from different biogeographic locations. The new primers developed in this study, in combination with an updated nematode 18S rRNA sequence database, would help us to better investigate and understand the diversity and community composition of free-living marine nematodes based on DNA barcoding approaches during biodiversity or biomonitoring surveys on a global-scale.     

The structure of rat 28S ribosomal ribonucleic acid inferred from the sequence of nucleotides in a gene.

The nucleotide sequence of a rat 28S rRNA gene was determined. The 28S rRNA encoded in the gene contains 4718 nucleotides and the molecular weight estimated from the sequence is 1.53 x 10(6). The guanine and cytosine content is 67%. The sequence of rat 28S rRNA diverges appreciably from that of Saccharomyces carlsbergensis 26S rRNA (about 50% identity), but more closely approximates that of Xenopus laevis 28S rRNA (about 75% identity). Rat 28S rRNA is larger than the analogous nucleic acids from yeast (3393 nucleotides) and X, laevis (4110 nucleotides) ribosomes. The additional bases are inserted in specific regions and tend to be rich in guanine and cytosine. 5.8S rRNA can interact with 28S rRNA by extensive hydrogen bonding at two sites near the 5' end of the latter.     

Analysis of 23S rRNA genes in metagenomes - a case study from the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition

As an evolutionary marker, 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) offers more diagnostic sequence stretches and greater sequence variation than 16S rRNA. However, 23S rRNA is still not as widely used. Based on 80 metagenome samples from the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) Expedition, the usefulness and taxonomic resolution of 23S rRNA were compared to those of 16S rRNA. Since 23S rRNA is approximately twice as large as 16S rRNA, twice as many 23S rRNA gene fragments were retrieved from the GOS reads than 16S rRNA gene fragments, with 23S rRNA gene fragments being generally about 100 bp longer. Datasets for 16S and 23S rRNA sequences revealed similar relative abundances for major marine bacterial and archaeal taxa. However, 16S rRNA sequences had a better taxonomic resolution due to their significantly larger reference database.Reevaluation of the specificity of previously published PCR amplification primers and group specific fluorescence in situ hybridization probes on this metagenomic set of non-amplified 23S rRNA sequences revealed that out of 16 primers investigated, only two had more than 90% target group coverage. Evaluations of two probes, BET42a and GAM42a, were in accordance with previous evaluations, with a discrepancy in the target group coverage of the GAM42a probe when evaluated against the GOS metagenomic dataset.     

Separation of Bacterial Ribosomal Ribonucleic Acid from Its Macromolecular Precursors by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

Electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels was found to be a powerful technique for separating the mature from the precursor forms of bacterial ribosomal nucleic acid (rRNA). The separation of the 16S rRNA from its precursor was, for all practical purposes, complete; that of the 23S rRNA from its precursor was detectable but incomplete. When mature and precursor rRNA preparations were heated to randomize secondary structure, etc., and then cooled, it was found that electrophoretic mobility differences between mature forms of rRNA and their precursors persisted. This, in conjunction with the rather large electrophoretic mobility differences between mature and precursor forms, can be taken as strong evidence for a molecular weight difference between mature rRNA and its precursor forms of RNA. With the 16S rRNA, this difference could be as large as 130,000 daltons.     

rRNA operon restriction derived taxa for Streptomyces (RiDiTS)

Abstract A method for grouping Streptomyces strains by fingerprints of their rRNA operons is described. In polyacrylamide gels, multicopy rRNA operon fragments in Streptomyces genomic Mse I fingerprints produced intense bands which are well resolved from the less conspicuous low copy fragments interspersed between them. The high intensity multicopy rRNA bands are easily distinguished from the low intensity bands, eliminating the need for Southern blot hybridization to visualize the rRNA fragments. Direct evidence that the high-intensity bands in these polyacrylamide gels originated from rRNA operons was provided by a 'differential' Southern blot technique. We have used this method to assign 98 strains to 11 rRNA fingerprint type groups. This clustering method may be applicable to any prokaryote with a high G + C content genome.     

Release of ribosome-bound 5S rRNA upon cleavage of the phosphodiester bond between nucleotides A54 and A55 in 5S rRNA

Reticulocyte lysates contain ribosome-bound and free populations of 5S RNA. The free population is sensitive to nuclease cleavage in the internal loop B, at the phosphodiester bond connecting nucleotides A54 and A55. Similar cleavage sites were detected in 5S rRNA in 60S subunits and 80S ribosomes. However, 5S rRNA in reticulocyte polysomes is insensitive to cleavage unless ribosomes are salt-washed. This suggests that a translational factor protects the backbone surrounding A54 from cleavage in polysomes. Upon nuclease treatment of mouse 60S subunits or reticulocyte lysates a small population of ribosomes released its 5S rRNA together with ribosomal protein L5. Furthermore, rRNA sequences from 5.8S, 28S and 18S rRNA were released. In 18S rRNA the sequences mainly originate from the 630 loop and stem (helix 18) in the 5' domain, whereas in 28S rRNA a majority of fragments is derived from helices 47 and 81 in domains III and V, respectively. We speculate that this type of rRNA-fragmentation may mimic a ribosome degradation pathway.     

THE RIBOSOMAL RNA OF HAMSTER-MOUSE HYBRID CELLS

The ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of a series of hamster-mouse somatic cell hybrids was studied. Mouse 28S rRNA was separated from its hamster counterpart by a two-step procedure involving sucrose gradient centrifugation of ribosomes and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of rRNA. Both hamster and mouse types of rRNA were synthesized in the 11 hybrids tested, including hybrids containing only about one-half the haploid number of either mouse or hamster chromosomes. It appears that, for both hamster and mouse rRNA, when the chromosomes of one species constituted the majority of the chromosomes of a hybrid, a disproportionately higher percentage of rRNA of that species was present in the hybrid. Some hybrid clones, having a majority of mouse chromosomes, had a mouse rRNA cell concentration approximately four to five times higher than the concentration expected from linear extrapolation of the value found for the mouse parental cell line.