Cloning and characterization of the ribosomal RNA gene from Gonyaulax polyedra

Abstract

The dinoflagellates have some primitive nuclear features and are evolutionarily intermediate between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene, the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene, the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of Gonyaulax polyedra were cloned, and their sequences were analyzed to better understand their evolutionary position. The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene was 1,794 nt long, the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene was approximately 3,500 nt long, and the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene was 159 nt long. The first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) was 191 nt long, and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) was 185 nt long. The intergenic spacer of the ribosomal RNA gene (IGS) was about 2,200 nt long, indicating that 5,800 nt of transcribed sequences were separated by roughly 2,200 nt of intergenic spacer. The ribosomal RNA genes were repeated many times and arranged in a head-to-tail, tandemly repeated manner. The repeating unit of ribosomal RNA gene of G. polyedra was proposed to be 8,000 nt long. Based on the lengths of ribosomal RNA, sequence alignments with representative organisms, and phylogenetic analysis on ribosomal RNA, G. polyedra appears to be one of the alveolates branched from the eukaryotic crown and, among dinoflagellates, it seems to not have emerged early.