Polyadenylate Sequences and Biologic Activity of Human Globin Messenger Ribonucleic Acid

The relationship of biologic activity and polyadenylic acid (poly(A)) content of human reticulocyte messenger RNA has been investigated. Purified 6 to 16 S RNA was fractionated on an oligodeoxythymidylate-cellulose column and assayed for (a) messenger RNA content by hybridization to [3H]CTP-labeled complementary DNA, (b) biologic activity in a Krebs ascites cell-free system, and (c) poly(A) content by hybridization to [3H]polyuridylate. The results indicate that biologic activity of human reticulocyte messenger RNA is independent of its poly(A) length and proportional to its messenger RNA content.