Characterization of the mRNA transcripts of the maize, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, large subunit gene.

The analysis of RNA isolated from maize leaves indicates that there are two mRNA transcripts which are homologous to the chloroplast encoded gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL). The 5' end of the smaller transcript, 1.62 Kb in length, begins at a position which is 60 nucleotides upstream from the coding sequence of the gene, corresponding to the position mapped by earlier workers. The larger transcript, 1.86 Kb in length, has not been previously described and originates from a site on the gene which is 302 nucleotides upstream from the coding sequence. The increased size of the largerbcL mRNA transcript from maize, as compared to the transcripts from spinach and tobacco, results from the presence of a 130 nucleotide insert between the two maizerbcL gene mRNA start sites. The DNA sequence adjacent to the start site for the large mRNA transcript is shown to have greater than 90% homology to the DNA sequences adjacent to the mRNA start sites for the spinach and tobaccorbcL gene. Discounting the presence of the insert in the maizerbcL gene, the nucleotides upstream from the coding sequence in the maize, spinach and tobaccorbcL genes, all share approximately the same amount of homology to each other. This homology, along with other evidence, suggests that the large mRNA species are the primary transcripts and that the smaller RNA species are the result of post-transcriptional processing. The finding that spinach also contains two different mRNA transcripts for therbcL gene is consistent with this model.