The psbA gene is part of the reaction center of photosystem II in cyanobacteria and the plastids of higher plants. Its primary sequence is highly conserved among all species investigated so far and its sequence shows homologies with the L and M subunits of the reaction center of photosynthetic bacteria. We have analyzed the psbA homolog from a eukaryotic alga, Cyanophora paradoxa, where the gene is encoded on cyanelle DNA. These cyanelles are surrounded by a murein sacculus and resemble cyanobacteria in many other characteristics, although they are genuine organelles that functionally replace plastids. Analysis of the gene revealed a psbA protein identical in length (360 codons) with the cyanobacterial counterpart. The overall sequence identity is, however, more pronounced between cyanelle psbA and the shorter (353 amino acids) psbA product found in higher plants. These data strongly support the postulated bridge position of cyanelles between chloroplasts and free-living cyanobacteria.

The 287-bp spacer and the flanking 3'-end of the 16S- and 5'-end of the 23S-rRNA genes of the cyanelles from Cyanophora paradoxa have been sequenced and compared with the corresponding regions of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. The spacer contains the uninterrupted genes for tRNA(ile) and tRNA(ala). All coding regions show high homology to their prokaryotic counterparts. At the 3'-end of the 16S-rDNA a CCTCCTTT sequence has been identified which is complementary to putative ribosome binding sites observed immediately upstream of the coding region of cyanelle protein genes.

We describe a 1132 bp sequence of the cyanelle genome of Cyanophora paradoxa containing the rpl3 gene. This gene, which is not chloroplast encoded in plants, is the first of a long cyanelle ribosomal operon whose organization resembles that of the S10 operon of E. coli. We have shown that the rpl3 gene is transcribed in cyanelles as a 7500 nucleotide precursor and that the 5'-end of the mRNA starts approximately 90 nucleotides upstream from the initiation codon. However, no typical procaryotic promoter could be found for this gene. We have detected, using anti E. coli L3 antibodies, the cyanelle L3 protein in cyanelle extracts and in E. coli cells transformed with the cyanelle rpl3 gene.