The expression of the ops gene, like that of the highly homologous and closely linked tps gene, is induced during development of the fruiting bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. The RNA products of the ops gene have been identified and compared with tps RNA. The ops RNA was observed in developmental cells only after spore formation had commenced, and it was necessary to use a sporulation-defective mutant strain or to disrupt spores to isolate this RNA. RNA from the ops gene was not observed in vegetative cells but was readily detected in cells subjected to glycerol-induced sporulation. In contrast, a large amount of developmental tps RNA was observed in cells well before sporulation had occurred; low levels of tps RNA were observed in vegetative cells; and only a slight increase in tps RNA was found during glycerol-induced sporulation. Several ops and tps RNAs were observed in this study, and the positions of these RNAs were mapped on the M. xanthus genome. The 5' ends of both the ops and tps RNAs mapped predominantly to positions about 50 bases upstream from the respective translational initiation sites. The 3' ends of RNAs from both genes were heterogeneous. The four ops RNAs were 620, 775, 845, and 1,230 bases in length, while the tps RNAs were 612, 695, 730, and 935 bases.