Nucleotide sequence and expression of the ribosomal protein L2 gene in pea chloroplasts.

We sequenced the nucleotides around the rpl2 gene, encoding the ribosomal protein L2, in pea (Pisum sativum cv. Alaska) chloroplasts and analyzed the expression of the rpl2 gene. During deetiolation, accumulation of the rpl2 transcript did not require de novo protein synthesis on chloroplastic ribosomes, in contrast to that of most chloroplast-encoded genes. This suggested that the mechanism involved in the expression of rpl2 differed from that of most chloroplast-encoded genes.