CLONING AND PHYSICAL MAPPING OF THE STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS RPLL, RPOB AND RPOC GENES, ENCODING RIBOSOMAL-PROTEIN L7/L12 AND RNA-POLYMERASE SUBUNITS-BETA AND SUBUNIT-BETA'

Using segments of the Escherichia coli rpoB and rpoC genes as heterologous probes, we have identified and cloned an 8.3 kb PstI fragment from the Staphylococcus aureus genome containing the rpoB and rpoC genes, which respectively encode the beta and beta' subunits of DNA-directed RNA polymerase. This region is almost certainly equivalent to the rif locus, located near to fus at interval 12/13 on the S. aureus linkage map. Limited DNA sequencing revealed the gene order rpoB-rpoC (transcribed from left to right) and identified the rplL gene, encoding ribosomal protein L7/L12, upstream of rpoB. This and other evidence suggests that the rpoBC genes of S. aureus form part of a large gene cluster encoding components of the transcription and translation apparatus which is well-conserved in other eubacteria.