title: The chloroplast genomes of conifers lack one of the rRNA-encoding inverted repeats.
abstract: Chloroplast DNS from species of five different conifer genera was extracted and studied by Southern blot analysis. For all these species, hybridization with heterologous probes specific for 16 S and 23 S rDNA detected only one chloroplast DNA fragment per enzyme digest. This observation suggests that the 16 S and 23 S rRNA genes are not duplicated in these genomes. The unique 16 S rDNA-containing BamHI fragment from Pinus contorta Dougl. was clones and restriction mapped. Apart from the 16 S rRNA gene, this fragment also contained the psbC and psbD genes. It is concluded that the chloroplast genomes of a wide taxonomic range of conifers lack one of the inverted repeat elements and that a dislocation of the psbDC gene cluster has occurred in P. contorta.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lidholm
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Szmidt
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hällgren
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gustafsson