Genetic organization of the ribosomal transcription units of the yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis.

The genetic organization of the multiple ribosomal transcription units (RTUs) on the genome of the yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis was studied by electron microscopy of purified ribosomal DNA hybridized to 26S rRNA using the R-loop technique (Thomas, M., White, R.L. and Davis, R.W. (1973) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. 73, 2294-2298). Plasmid pBR 322, the molecular weight of which is known, was used as a standard for converting contour length of double-stranded DNA into molecular weight. The 140 yeast RTUs were found to be arrayed in tandem repeats, each repeat containing at most 0.4 X 10(6) D (about 6% of the length of the RTU) of non-transcribed spacer DNA. The repeats, in turn, are arranged in a number of clusters separated by much longer stretches of non-ribosomal DNA.