Components involved in RNA-protein interaction at the 3′ untranslated region of rbcL mRNA of Populus deltoides

RNA-protein interactions occurring at the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of the mRNA of rbcL gene from Populus deltoides have been examined. The 3' UTR of rbcL gene in P deltoides is highly AT rich and contains invert repeat (IR) sequences capable of forming two stem-loops. Gel mobility shift assays followed by SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the 3' IR-RNA region interacts with a set of proteins having molecular weights between 66 and 26 kDa. The protein complex protected an approximately 82-nucleotide segment of 3' UTR of rbcL mRNA when treated with RNase T1. An internal competition assay using variable lengths of the rbcL 3' UTR indicated that the RNaseT1 protected segment included both stem-loops and a few sequences downstream including a conserved AU rich box. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.