Detection of yeast ribosomal RNA sequences in E. coli infected with hybrid bacteriophage.

Yeast ribosomal DNA was inserted into Escherichia coli on a bacteriophage vector and the host cell RNA was then extracted and analyzed for the presence of yeast ribosomal RNA sequences. RNA complementary to yeast rDNA was detected by hybridization. The transcription of yeast rDNA was found to be independent of phage RNA synthesis and to occur on the same DNA strand as rRNA transcription in yeast. However, hybridization to restriction fragments of yeast rDNA suggested that the RNA species detected in E. coli differ somewhat from authentic yeast rRNA.