Nucleotide sequence of the yeast 5S ribosomal RNA gene and adjacent putative control regions

Abstract

IN bacteria, the sequence of several promoters has been determined and some of the features of their interaction with RNA polymerase, repressors and other regulatory molecules are beginning to be determined^1,2. In eukaryotes, however, the isolation and analysis of the DNA structures involved in the regulation of transcription has not yet been achieved. Recent advances in techniques for cloning eukaryotic DNA in bacterial plasmids³ have allowed the isolation of genetic segments whose structure and function can be studied in detail. Using these methods we have isolated a DNA fragment containing the 5S ribosomal RNA gene. The 5S RNA seems to be a primary transcript in yeast^4–6; therefore the flanking regions of the 5S gene should contain the putative promoter and termination regions. We report here the nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 5S DNA and these flanking regions.