Partial purification and characterization of the mRNA for alpha-amylase from barley aleurone layers

The poly(A)-containing mRNA from barley aleurone layers pretreated with gibberellic acid has been purified by phenol-chloroform extraction and repeated oligo[d(pT)]-cellulose chromatography. This RNA has been translated in both the wheat germ and reticulocyte lysate in vitro translation systems with greater than 50% of the synthesized protein being alpha-amylase. The mRNA for alpha-amylase has been further purified by dimethylsulfoxide-formamide-sucrose density gradient centrifugation and by gel electrophoresis. By these methods, its molecular weight has been determined to be 580,000.