Abstract
The size range of poly(A)-containing RNA from Drosophila melanogaster embryos has been estimated by hybridization with 3H-labeled poly(U) and subsequent fractionation on sucrose gradients. The median size of nuclear poly(A)-containing RNA is about 30 S (6000 nucleotides), and the median size of cytoplasmic poly(A)-containing RNA is about 17 S (1800 nucleotides). The relationship of these sizes to messenger RNA needed to code for protein and to the length of DNA contained in a chromomere is discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Attardi, G., Parnas, H., Hwang, M.-I., and Attardi, B. (1966). Giant-size rapidly labelled nuclear ribonucleic acid and cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleic acid in immature duck erythrocytes. J. Mol. Biol. 20145.
Beerman, W. (1972). Chromomeres and genes. In Developmental Studies on Giant Chromosomes: Results and Problems of Cellular Differentiation, Vol. 4, Springer, New York.
Bishop, J. O., Morton, J. G., Rosbash, M., and Richardson, M. (1974). Three abundance classes in HeLa cell messenger RNA. Nature 250199.
Crick, F. (1971). General model for the chromosomes of higher organisms. Nature 23425.
Darnell, J. E., Jelinek, W. R., and Molloy, G. R. (1973). Biogenesis of m-RNA: Genetic regulation in mammalian cells. Science 1811212.
Dickson, E., Boyd, J., and Laird, C. D. (1971). Sequence diversity of the polytene chromosome DNA from Drosophila hydei. J. Mol. Biol. 61615.
Edmonds, M., Vaughn, M. H., Jr., and Nakagato, H. (1971). Polyadenylic acid sequences in the heterogeneous nuclear RNA and rapidly labelled polyribosomal RNA of HeLa cells: Possible evidence for a precursor relationship. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 681336.
Edström, J.-E., and Daneholt, B. (1967). Sedimentation properties of the newly synthesized RNA from isolated nuclear components of Chironomus tentans salivary gland cells. J. Mol. Biol. 28331.
Firtel, R. A., Jacobson, A., and Lodish, H. A. (1972). Isolation and hybridization kinetics of messenger RNA from Dictyostelium discoideum. Nature New Biol. 239225.
Foe, V. E., Wilkinson, L. E., and Laird, C. D. (1976). Comparative organization of active transcription units in Oncopeltus fasciatus. Cell. (submitted).
Fraser, R. S. S., and Loening, U. E. (1973). Binding of radioactive homopolynucleotides to RNA. Eur. J. Biochem. 34153.
Giudice, G., Sconzo, G., Ramirez, F., and Albanese, I. (1972). Giant RNA is also found in the cytoplasm in sea urchin embryos. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 262401.
Holmes, D. S., and Bonner, J. (1973). Preparation, molecular weight, base composition and secondary structure of giant nuclear ribonucleic acid. Biochemistry 122330.
Hutton, J. R., and Thomas, C. A., Jr. (1975). The origin of folded DNA rings from Drosophila melanogaster. J. Mol. Biol. 98425.
Johnson, C. B. (1974). Informational content in eukaryotic nuclear DNA. Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington.
Judd, B. H., and Young, M. W. (1974). An examination of the one cistron: one chromomere concept. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 38573.
Laird, C. D. (1971). Chromatid structure: Relationship between DNA content and nucleotide sequence diversity. Chromosoma 32378.
Laird, C. D. (1976). DNA of Drosophila chromosomes. Ann. Rev. Genet. 7177.
Laird, C. D., and Chooi, W. Y. (1976). Morphology of transcription units in Drosophila melanogaster. Chromosoma (submitted).
Lengyel, J., and Penman, S. (1974). Transcription in Drosophila tissue culture cells. In Abstracts Fourteenth Annual Meeting American Society for Cell Biology, 191a.
Lengyel, J., and Penman, S. (1975). hn RNA size and processing as related to different DNA content in two dipterans: Drosophila and Aedes. Cell 5281.
Loening, U. R. (1968). Molecular weights of ribosomal RNA in relation to evolution. J. Mol. Biol. 38355.
Logan, W. R. (1975). RNA containing polyadenylate from Drosophila melanogaster imaginal discs. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley.
McConkey, E. H. (1967). The fractionation of RNAs by sucrose gradient centrifugation. In Grossman, L., and Moldave, K. (eds.), Methods in Enzymology, Vol. XIIA, Academic Press, New York, pp. 620–634.
Palacios, R., Sullivan, D., Summers, N. M., Kiely, M. L., and Schimke, R. J. (1973). Purification of ovalbumin messenger ribonucleic acid by specific immunoadsorption of ovalbumin synthesizing polysomes and Millipore partition of ribonucleic acids. J. Biol. Chem. 248540.
Penman, S., Vesco, C., and Penman, M. (1968). Localization and kinetics of formation of nuclear heterodisperse RNA, cytoplasmic heterodisperse RNA and polyribosome associated messenger RNA in HeLa cells. J. Mol. Biol. 3449.
Perry, R. P., Cheng, Tsai-Yeng, Freed, J. J., Greenberg, J. R., Kelley, D. E., and Tartof, K. D. (1970). Evolution of the transcription unit of ribosomal RNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 65609.
Perry, R. P., LaTorre, J., Kelley, D. E., and Greenberg, J. R. (1972). On the lability of poly(A) sequences during extraction of messenger RNA from polyribosomes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 262220.
Philipson, L., Wall, R., Glickman, G., and Darnell, J. E. (1971). Addition of polyadenylate sequences to virus-specific RNA during adenovirus replication. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 682608.
Price, R. P., Ransom, L., and Penman, S. (1974). Identification of a small subfraction of hnRNA with the characteristics of a precursor to m-RNA. Cell 2253.
Riley, M., Maling, B., and Chamberlain, M. J. (1966). Physical and chemical characterization of two- and three-stranded adenine-thymine and adenine-uracil homopolymer complexes. J. Mol. Biol. 20359.
Robertson, H., and Dickson, E. (1974). RNA processing and the control of gene expression. In Dunn, J. J. (ed.), Brookhaven Symposium in Biology, Number 26, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, pp. 240–266.
Rosbash, M., and Ford, P. J. (1974). Polyadenylic acid-containing RNA in Xenopus laevis oocytes. J. Mol. Biol. 8587.
Scherrer, K., Marcaud, L., Zajdela, F., London, J. M., and Gros, F. (1966). Patterns of RNA metabolism in a differentiated cell: A rapidly labeled, unstable 60 S RNA with messenger properties in duck erythroblasts. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 561571.
Segal, J. G., and Fristom, J. W. (1974). The effect of β-ecdysone on protein synthesis in imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster cultured in vitro. Develop. Biol. 41314.
Staehelin, T., and Falvey, A. K. (1971). Isolation of mammalian ribosomal subunits active in polypeptide synthesis. In Moldave, R., and Grossman, L. (eds.), Methods in Enzymology, Vol. XX, Academic Press, New York, pp. 433–449.
Stevens, C. L., and Felsenfeld, G. (1964). The conversion of two-stranded poly(A + U) to three-stranded poly(A + 2U) and poly A by heat. Biopolymers 2293.
Tartof, K. D., and Perry, R. P. (1970). The 5 S RNA genes of Drosophila melanogaster. J. Mol. Biol. 51171.
Turner, S. H., and Laird, C. D. (1973). Diversity of RNA sequences in Drosophila melanogaster. Biochem. Genet. 10263.
Wilt, F. H. (1973). Polyadenylation of maternal RNA of sea urchin eggs after fertilization. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 702345.
Wray, W., and Stubblefield, E. (1970). A new method for the rapid isolation of chromosomes, mitotic apparatus, or nuclei from mammalian fibroblasts at near neutral pH. Exptl. Cell Res. 59469.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Research grant support was provided by NIH (6M35558; HD-00266) and NSF (GB-30600).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lamb, M.M., Laird, C.D. The size of poly(A)-containing RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster embryos. Biochem Genet 14, 357–371 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484774
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484774