Fractionation and identification of spinach chloroplast transfer RNAs and mapping of their genes on the restriction map of chloroplast DNA.

Spinach chloroplast 4S RNAs has been separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into about 35 species. After extraction from the gel, 27 of these RNA species were identified by aminoacylation as tRNAs specific for 16 amino acids. Individual tRNAs were labeled in vitro with 125I and hybridized to DNA fragments obtained by digestion of spinach chloroplast DNA with KpnI, PstI, SalI and XmaI restriction endonucleases. A minimum of 21 genes corresponding to tRNAs for 14 different amino acids have been localized on the restriction endonuclease cleavage site map of the DNA molecule. Of these, 15 genes corresponding to tRNAs for 12 amino acids are located in the larger of the two single-copy regions which separate the two inverted copies of the repeat region. Each copy of this repeat region contains a set of genes for the ribosomal RNAs and a gene for tRNA2Ile in the "spacer" sequence between the 16S and 23S ribosomal RNAs. The genes for tRNA1Ile, tRNA2Leu and tRNA3Leu also map in the repeat region, but outside the ribosomal DNA unit. At present, two more chloroplast tRNAs (for Pro and Lys) have been identified, but not mapped, while 4 unidentified 4S RNAs have been mapped in the large single-copy region of the DNA molecule. Evidence is presented that isoaccepting tRNA species can be transcripts from different loci.