Structure and biosynthesis of the ribosomal ribonucleic acids from the oncogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens

The rRNA of the oncogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens was extracted by several methods and analysed by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The large rRNA of this bacterium is degraded in vivo during the maturation of the ribosome. The influence of Mg2+ and denaturation on degradation of 23S RNA was studied. In pulse and chase experiments, we identified two precursors of the rRNA with mol.wts. of 1.04 x 10(6) and 0.70 x 10(6). From studies of the structure of the large rRNA, we propose that it could have arisen from a gene duplication. This structure is discussed in relation to a recent hypothesis involving such gene duplication as a means of origin of 23S rRNA.