Chloroplast ribosomal ribonucleic acid synthesis in cultured spinach leaf tissue

Chloroplast rRNA synthesis was studied in spinach leaf tissue cultured under sterile conditions which eliminate bacterial rRNA synthesis. The synthesis was inhibited by darkness, but concomitant cytoplasmic rRNA synthesis was unaffected. A complex pattern of labelled rRNA precursors was found in extracts from cultured leaf tissue by using polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. However, differences between the precursor profiles of leaf tissue cultured in the light and in the dark could not be correlated with chloroplast rRNA synthesis since large amounts of high-molecular-weight precursors of cytoplasmic rRNA dominated the pattern in both cases. A double-isotope-labelling technique was used, which enabled light-stimulated rRNA synthesis to be studied in whole leaf tissue. Two rapidly labelled RNA species of molecular weights 1.15x10(6) and 0.65x10(6) were detected, which were thought to have possible precursor significance in the synthesis of mature chloroplast rRNA of molecular weights 1.04x10(6) and 0.56x10(6) respectively. Cycloheximide treatment resulted in the accumulation of RNA of molecular weight 1.8x10(6), whose function is unknown.