A nucleotide sequence from a ribonuclease III processing site in bacteriophage T7 RNA.

Abstract

Transcription of that portion of the bacteriophage T7 genome encoding early functions yields RNA molecules .apprx. 7500 nucleotides long representing this entire early region. These long transcripts can be cleaved in vitro by highly purified Escherichia coli RNase III (EC 3.1.4.24), yielding 5 mRNA identical to those produced in vivo. During this reaction a small RNA fragment called F5 RNA is released, which is specified by the region of the T7 genome between genes 1.1 and 1.3. The following sequence of 32P-labeled F5 RNA was determined using standard RNA sequencing techniques: pU-A-A-G-G-U-C-G-C-U-C-U-C-U-A-G-G-A-G-U-G-G-C-C-U-U-A-G-UOH. The relative contributions of sequence and structure to RNase III processing signals are considered from these findings.