A comparison of the 16S ribosomal RNAs from mesophilic and thermophilic bacilli: some modifications in the Sanger method for RNA sequencing.

Two modifications in the Sanger two dimensional electrophoretic procedure for RNA analysis are reported. One increases resolution on the primary fingerprint to the point that digests of large RNAs, of the size 1500-3000 nucleotides yield well resolved fingerprint patterns. The other is a novel endonucleolytic procedure that proves useful in determining sequences of the large oligonucleotides produced by T1 ribonuclease. These modifications have been used in determining the catalogs of oligomers produced by T1 ribonuclease digestion of 16S rRNAs from three related organisms, Bacillus subtilis, B.pumilus and B.stearothermophilus. The possible effects of adaptation to a thermophilic niche on ribosomal RNA primary structure and the phylogenetic relatedness of the two mesophilic Bacilli are discussed.