A Membrane-Associated RNA of Cytoplasmic Origin in Hela Cells

Abstract

The genetic evidence of the existence in yeast [1] and molds [2] of cytoplasmic determinants controlling the structure and function of mitochondria and the demonstration that mitochondria from all organisms contain DNA [3-7] have indicated that transcription and translation processes dependent on cytoplasmic genes occur in eukaryotic cells. More recent observations in Neurospora have suggested that a cytoplasmic, presumably mitochondrial, genetic determinant controls the structural proteins of different membrane systems (mitochondria, microsomes, nuclear membrane) [8, 9]; these structural proteins, from their amino acid composition, fingerprinting pattern, and immunological behavior, appear to be identical or to have a common component. [8, 9] These findings suggest that cytoplasmic genes may have a wider role in the cell than hitherto suspected and may direct a considerable fraction of mRNA and protein synthesis.

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