Localization of mRNAs for the small and large subunits of Rubisco using electron microscopic in situ hybridization

In situ hybridization coupled with electron microscopy has been used to locate mRNAs for the small and large subunits of ribulose 1,5-bis-phosphate carboxlase in young leaf tissue of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants. The endogeneous mRNAs were hybridized with either a biotinylated DNA probe for the small subunit or large subunit and subsequently visualized using avidin-ferritin conjugates at the electron microscope level. In the tissue incubated with the small subunit cDNA probe, the cytoplasm was uniformly labeled with ferritin indicating the presence of the target mRNA; this was particularly visible in cells which had undergone some structural damage. In the case of the LSU probe, the ferritin marker was shown to be exclusively associated with the plastid stroma in intact leaf cells. The compartmentation of cytoplasmic small subunit mRNA versus plastid large subunit mRNA has been confirmed by direct visualization of in situ hybridization.