Determination of the translation start site of the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase from maize

Summary Sequence studies of the gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase from maize indicate the presence of two translation start sites, 18 bp apart. Each site is preceded by a suitable ribosome binding region. By using a simplified E. coli-based in vitro system which measures fromation of the first dipeptide of the gene product, we have determined that only the second methionine initiates translation.