The maize chloroplast genes for the beta and epsilon subunits of the photosynthetic coupling factor CF1 are fused.

We have cloned and sequenced the maize chloroplast genome fragment Eco RI e which contains the 2.2 kb transcript previously reported (Link, G. and Bogorad, L. (1980) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 77 6821-6825) to lie next to the maize gene for the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (LS) and to be transcribed divergently. Immunochemical and sequencing data show that the gene codes for the beta subunit of the maize chloroplast coupling factor complex (CF1). The derived amino acid sequence is highly homologous to that of the corresponding E. coli protein (Saraste et al. (1981) Nucleic Acids Res. 9 5287-5296). The last base of the codon for the terminal lysine residue of the beta subunit of CF1 is the first base of the codon for the initiating methionine of an open reading frame whose derived amino acid composition and size closely match that reported for the epsilon subunit (Binder et al. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253 3094-3100). The close coupling of the two genes may serve to in sure their stoichiometric production.