Abstract
For two close diploid relatives of the allotetraploidNicotiana tabacum, N. sylvestris (subg.Petunioides) andN. tomentosiformis (subg.Nicotiana), the nucleotide sequences of the external transcribed rDNA spacer regions (ETS) are described and compared (within the genus and with otherSolanaceae). The ETS of these two diploid species consists of three regions: the most upstream region I contains the putative RNA polymerase I transcription initiation site. Region II consists of several subrepeats (type A) and of a short species specific element. There are 5 subrepeats in theN. sylvestris clone and 10 subrepeats in the clone isolated fromN. tomentosiformis. Region III, adjacent to the 18S rRNA gene, exhibits much higher similarities between species than regions I and II, not only amongN. sylvestris andN. tomentosiformis but also with more distantly relatedSolanaceae. At the 5′-end of region III of the ETS in the twoNicotiana species studied in detail there are three copies of highly divergent subrepeats (type B). Possible ways of the step-wise molecular evolution of these ribosomal DNA regions inNicotiana and theSolanaceae are discussed.
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Volkov, R., Kostishin, S., Ehrendorfer, F. et al. Molecular organization and evolution of the external transcribed rDNA spacer region in two diploid relatives ofNicotiana tabacum (Solanaceae). Pl Syst Evol 201, 117–129 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00989055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00989055