Ribosomal ribonucleic acid repeat unit of Acanthamoeba castellanii: cloning and restriction endonuclease map.

The repeat unit coding for the precursor to 18S, 5.8S, and 26S ribosomal ribonucleic acids (rRNAs) has been cloned from the free-living soil amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. The cloned deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was mapped with 11 restriction endonucleases and by R-loop mapping. The entire repeat unit is 12 kbp (kilobase pairs) in length and contains sites for EcoRI, SmaI, BglII, SstI, Bam-HI, PstI, KpnI, HindIII, and XbaI but not for XhoI or SalI. All of the repeat units in the nuclear DNA appear to be identical, and no introns were detected. However, the regions which code for the two RNAs which comprise the 26S RNA are separated by a gap of approximately 200 base pairs. Unlike some other lower eukaryotes, the 5S RNA gene is not linked to this repeat unit. A fragment of the repeat unit which contains the initiation sequence of the putative precursor has been subcloned into pBR322 for use in vitro transcription studies.