Abstract
Variations in the amounts of nuclear RNA present during interphase in Vicia faba were studied by microphotometric, autoradiographic and chemical methods. In one series of experiments, nucleic acid estimations were carried out on root meristem nuclei isolated from cells which had been partially synchronized by treatment with 5-aminouracil at 20 and 25° C. In a second series, root meristem nuclei isolated from untreated plants growing at 4, 20 and 25° C, were separated into fractions, containing different interphase stages, by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. — The results from the two series suggest that at 4 and 20° C there is a net increase in the amount of nuclear RNA during interphase which parallels the net increase in DNA. At 25° C, however, there is less RNA per nucleus and this remains at the same level throughout interphase resulting in an average increase in the DNA∶RNA ratio of 55%. — It is suggested that the balance between the synthesis and release of nuclear RNA may change not only within plants, at different stages of interphase, but also between plants according to the temperature at which they are grown.
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McLeish, J. Changes in the amounts of nuclear RNA during interphase in Vicia faba . Chromosoma 26, 312–325 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00326525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00326525