The intracellular ribosome crystals from chick embryos incubated at 5 degrees C have been isolated; stable products of their dissociation were shown to include single ribosomes, tetramers of ribosomes, and tetramers of large subunits. Conditions were found for the formation in vitro not only of the p4 crystals from ribosomal tetramers but also of the tetramers themselves from free ribosomes. Th...

Comparative studies of free ribosomal RNA and ribosomes were made with two probes, Mg++ ions and ethidium bromide, which interact with RNA in different ways. Mg++. E. coli 16 S rRNA and 30 S ribosomes were equilibrated with four different buffers. Equilibration required several days at 4 degrees and several hours at 37 degrees. In all buffers ribosomes bound more Mg than free rRNA, the differen...

In vitro studies of translation provide critical mechanistic details, yet purification of large amounts of highly active eukaryotic ribosomes remains a challenge for biochemists and structural biologists. Here, we present an optimized method for preparation of highly active yeast ribosomes that could easily be adapted for purification of ribosomes from other species. The use of a nitrogen mill ...

Nascent proteins emerging from translating ribosomes in bacteria are screened by a number of ribosome-associated protein biogenesis factors, among them the chaperone trigger factor (TF), the signal recognition particle (SRP) that targets ribosomes synthesizing membrane proteins to the membrane and the modifying enzymes, peptide deformylase (PDF) and methionine aminopeptidase (MAP). Here, we exa...

Monoiodoamphenicol, a synthetic analogue of chloramphenicol, has been shown by competition experiments with chloramphenicol and lincomycin to bind at the same site of 70S ribosomes as chloramphenicol. At - 2 degrees it forms a 1:1 complex with 70S ribosomes having a value of K (7.5 x 10(4) M(-1)) that is one order of magnitude lower than that of chloramphenicol. At 37 degrees , monoiodoamphenic...

Ribosomes translate genetic information into polypeptides in several basic steps: initiation, elongation, termination and recycling. When ribosomes are arrested during elongation or termination, the cell's capacity for protein synthesis is reduced. There are numerous quality control systems in place to distinguish between paused ribosomes that need some extra input to proceed and terminally sta...

We employed electron cryo-tomography to visualize cytosolic ribosomes on the surface of mitochondria. Translation-arrested ribosomes reveal the clustered organization of the TOM complex, corroborating earlier reports of localized translation. Ribosomes are shown to interact specifically with the TOM complex, and nascent chain binding is crucial for ribosome recruitment and stabilization. Riboso...