The histone H3 and H4 mRNAs are polyadenylated in maize

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Abstract
Northern blot analysis revealed that the histone H3 and H4 mRNAs are of unusual large size in germinating maize embryos. S1-mapping experiments show that the 3′-untranslated regions of the mRNAs transcribed from 3 H3 and 2 H4 maize genes previously described are much longer than in the non-polyadenylated histone mRNAs which represent a major class in animals. Moreover, oligo d(T) cellulose fractionation of RNAs isolated at different developmental stages indicates that more than 99 % of the maize H3 and H4 mRNAs are polyadenylated. A putative polyadenylation signal is present in all five genes 17 to 27 nucleotides before the 3′-ends of the mRNAs.