The complete nucleotide sequence of 16S ribosomal RNA gene from tobacco chloroplasts.

The complete nucleotide sequence of 16S ribosomal RNA gene from tobacco chloroplasts has been determined. This nucleotide sequence has 96% homology with that of maize chloroplast 16S rRNA gene and 74% homology with that of Escherichia coli 16S gene. The 3' terminal region of this gene contains the sequence ACCTCC which is complementary to sequences found at the 5' termini of prokaryotic mRNAs. The large stem and loop structure can be constructed from the sequences surrounding the 5' and 3' ends of the 16S gene. These observation demonstrate the prokaryotic nature of chloroplast 16S rRNA.