Studies on the ribosomal RNA operons of<i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>

Abstract

A 23S rRNA gene of Listeria monocytogenes was cloned into pUC19 on a 6.2-kb PstI fragment. Hybridisation studies demonstrated the presence of the 5S and partial 16S rRNA genes within the clone. The nucleotide sequence of the region encoding the 23S rRNA was found to be highly homologous with those of other low G + C Gram-positive bacteria. The 16S–23S intergenic spacer region was amplified using PCR technology and revealed two product sizes, the larger of which contained tRNAAla and tRNAIleu genes. Further tRNA genes were found downstream of the 5S rRNA gene.