Small molecular weight RNA components in sea urchin eggs

Abstract

Polyacrylamide gel profiles of RNA extracted from unfertilized sea urchin eggs contain three small molecular weight RNA components—S 1, S 2, and S 3—with an electrophoretic mobility slower than 5 S RNA. The mobility of the S components was compared with the small molecular weight nuclear RNA components (L, A, C, and D) isolated from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. S 1 migrates somewhat faster than D, S 2 between A and C, and S 3 as L. The gel profiles of small molecular weight RNA components extracted with cold and hot phenol were identical apart from the presence of 5.8S RNA in the hot extracted RNA. The hot extraction does not convert 5 S RNA to a denatured 5 S RNA.