Hsu D, Pan M J, Zee Y C, LeFebvre R B
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616.
J Bacteriol. 1990 Jun;172(6):3478-80. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.6.3478-3480.1990.
All known ribosomes of procaryotic organisms are made up of three rRNA components that are 23, 16, and 5S in size. We now report that in some Leptospira interrogans strains, the classical 23S rRNA is further processed to generate 14 and 17S rRNAs. This processing step was previously known to occur only in some eucaryotes and in a small group of procaryotes. The implications of this finding are discussed.