Purification of the elongation factor Tu (EF‐Tu) from the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis

Abstract
Elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) was purified from S. platensis. By gel electrophoresis the MW of the purified protein apparently was 49,000, a value close to that reported for the EF-Tu isolated from a number of bacteria but higher than that reported for the protein isolated from Escherichia coli (43,000). Functionally, however, S. platensis EF-Tu may replace the E. coli protein in a protein-synthesizing system in vitro. In addition, its activity is affected by kirromycin, an antibiotic that specifically interacts with eubacterial EF-Tu.