The Euglena gracilis chloroplast rpoB gene. Novel gene organization and transcription of the RNA polymerase subunit operon.

The rpoB gene coding for a beta-like subunit of the chloroplast DNA-dependent RNA polymerase has been located on the chloroplast genome of Euglena gracilis distal to the rrnC ribosomal RNA operon. We have determined 5760 base-pairs of DNA sequence, including 97 bp of the 5S rRNA gene, an intergenic spacer of 1264 bp, the rpoB gene of 4249 bp, 84 bp spacer and 67 bp of the rpoC1 gene. The rpoB gene is of the same polarity as the rRNA operons. The organization of the rpoB and rpoC genes resembles the E. coli rpoB-rpoC and higher plant chloroplast rpoB-rpoC1-rpoC2 operons. The Euglena rpoB gene (1082 codons) encodes a polypeptide with a predicted molecular weight of 124,288. The rpoB gene is interrupted by seven Group III introns of 93, 95, 94, 99, 101, 110 and 99 bp respectively and a Group II intron of 309 bp. All other known rpoB genes lack introns. All the exon-exon junctions were experimentally determined by cDNA cloning and sequencing or direct primer extension RNA sequencing. Transcripts from the rpoB locus were characterized by Northern hybridization. Fully-spliced, monocistronic rpoB mRNA, as well as rpoB-rpoC1 and rpoB1-rpoC1-rpoC2 mRNAs were identified.