A nucleotide sequence from a ribonuclease III processing site in bacteriophage T7 RNA.

Transcription of that portion of the bacteriophage T7 genome encoding early functions yields RNA molecules about 7500 nucleotides long representing this entire early region. These long transcripts can be cleaved in vitro by highly purified Escherichia coli ribonuclease III (endoribonuclease III; EC 3.1.4.24), yielding five messenger RNAs identical to those produced in vivo. During this reaction, a small RNA fragment called F5 RNA is released, which is specified by the region of the T7 genome between genes 1.1 and 1.3. The following sequence of 32P-labeled F5 RNA has been determined using standard RNA sequencing techniques: pU-A-A-G-G-U-C-G-C-U-C-U-C-U-A-G-G-A-G-U-G-G-C-C-U-U-A-G-Uoh. The relative contributions of sequence and structure to ribonuclease III processing signals are considered in light of these findings.