Isolation and characterization of polyadenylated RNA species from sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis

The appearance of a population of polyadenylated RNA during sporulation of B. subtilis is reported. This poly(A) RNA was characterized by hybridization to [ 3H]poly(U), by its ability to bind oligo(dT)-cellulose and by its resistance to ribonucleases A and T 1. Most of the poly(A) sequences are located at the 3′ terminus of the RNA chains and are of about 160–180 nucleotides length. Little or no poly(A) RNA was found in vegetative cells or in stationary stage cells of an asporogenic mutant blocked at zero stage of sporulation process. These results strongly suggest that the polyadenylated RNA might play a role in the regulation of gene expression during sporulation.