Complete cloning of the chloroplast genome of safflower in lambda EMBL3 and mapping of 23S and 16S rRNA genes.

A recombinant DNA library was constructed from partial BamHI or MboI digests of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) chloroplast DNA, in the BamHI site of lambda EMBL3. Seventeen lambda recombinants, selected by chromosome walking, were found to contain overlapping fragments of the entire chloroplast genome. These clones were mapped using single and double digests of BamHI, EcoRI and HindIII. cDNAs synthesized from isolated 16S and 23S chloroplast rRNAs were used to map the ribosomal RNA genes relative to physical maps of the above restriction enzymes. The mapped positions of the rRNA genes for the safflower chloroplast DNA are in good agreement with previously published data for tobacco, spinach and several other higher plants.