Thermus thermophilus 16S rRNA is transcribed from an isolated transcription unit

A cloned 16S rRNA gene from the extreme thermophilic eubacterium Thermus thermophilus HB8 was used to characterize the in vivo expression of the 16S rRNA genes in this organism by nuclease S1 mapping. The gene represents an isolated transcription unit encoding solely 16S rRNA. Under exponential growth conditions, transcription was initiated at a single promoter, which represents the structural equivalent of Escherichia coli rrn P2 promoters. The promoter-leader region was very similar to the E. coli rrn P2 promoter-leader segment that is responsible for antitermination. The T. thermophilus leader region was approximately 85 nucleotides shorter than its E. coli P2 counterpart. Potential processing intermediates were correlated with a proposed secondary structure of T. thermophilus pre-16S rRNA.