Translation of T7 RNA in vitro without cleavage by RNase III.

T7 early mRNA's are generated from a high-molecular-weight precursor RNA by site-specific RNase III cleavage. When T7 DNA is transcribed in vitro by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase, the transcript is a large, single-piece RNA equivalent to the in vivo precursor RNA. The T7 RNA synthesized in vitro can be translated as a polycistronic messenger without cleavage by RNase III. All T7 early proteins are synthesized in an RNase III-free, protein-synthesizing system directed by the uncleaved T7 RNA.