Studies on the 3'-terminal sequences of the large ribosomal ribonucleic acid of different eukaryotes and those associated with "hidden" breaks in heart-dissociable insects 26S ribonucleic acid.

The 3'-terminal sequences associated with the large rRNA complex from a range of eukaryotes were determined after pancreatic or T(1)-ribonuclease digestion of RNA terminally labelled with [(3)H]isoniazid. In all higher eukaryotes examined except Drosophila melanogaster, the 3'-terminal sequences Y-G-U(OH) and G-C-U(OH) were demonstrated for the large RNA component(s) and for 6S RNA respectively. The 3'-terminal sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 26S RNA was Y-G-U(OH) and that of 6S RNA Y-A-U-U-U(OH). Three 3'-terminal sequences were found in equimolar amounts in the heat-dissociable 26S rRNA characteristic of insect ribosomes. These were Y-G-U-G-U(OH), Y-C-G-U(OH) and G-C-U(OH) for cultured Antheraea eucalypti cells, Y-G-U(OH), Y-G-U(OH) and G-C-U(OH) for Galleria mellonella larvae and Y-C-G-A(OH), Y-G-U-A(OH) and G-Y-U-G(OH) for Drosophila melanogaster flies. Thus the introduction of the central scission in insect 26S rRNA results in the generation of a unique 3'-terminus and does not arise from random cleavage of the polynucleotide chain.