Precursor of 5 S Ribosomal Ribonucleic Acid in the Blue-Green Alga Anacystis nidulans

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Abstract
The maturation of 5 S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) in the obligately photoautotrophic unicellular blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans has been studied by using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and T1 ribonuclease oligonucleotide analysis. A. nidulans mature 5 S rRNA (m5) is of approximately the same molecular weight as the 5 S rRNA of Escherichia coli , and is derived by cleavage of a precursor (p5) containing a few (three to six) additional nucleotides. Some of these additional nucleotides occur at the 5′ end of the precursor molecule; others may occur at the 3′ end. Kinetic experiments indicate that precursors of mature 5 S rRNA larger than p5 either do not exist or are very transient in A. nidulans . These results are discussed in relation to those obtained with other prokaryotes.