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Relatively little is known about the mechanisms that govern the expression of plant mitochondrial genomes. We have addressed this problem by analyzing the transcriptional activity of different regions of the maize mitochondrial genome using both in vivo and isolated mitochondrial pulse-labeling systems. The regions examined included the protein genes atpA, atp6, and coxII, the 26S, 18S, and 5S rRNA genes, and sequences surrounding the rRNA genes. The rRNAs were found to be transcribed at rates fivefold to 10-fold higher than the protein genes. These rate differences are comparable with the differences in abundance of these species in the total or steady-state RNA population. Pulse-labeled RNA unexpectedly detected transcription of all regions examined, including approximately 21 kilobases of presumed noncoding sequences flanking the rRNA genes for which stable transcripts were not detected …