Reconstitution of Active 30‐S Ribosomal Subunits in vitro Using Heat‐Denatured 16‐S rRNA

Abstract
30-S ribosomal subunits [from Escherichia coli] which were reconstituted using heat-denatured 16-S rRNA can participate in the synthesis of lysozyme in vitro. Therefore, all the information contributed by 16-S rRNA to the reconstitution process is carried in the primary sequence of this RNA. The specific protein-synthesizing activity of 30-S subunits reconstituted from 30-S subunit proteins and heat-denatured 16-S rRNA is about 1/3 of that observed if unheated 16-S rRNA is used and is comparable to the activity of 30-S particles isolated after dissociation of 70-S ribosomes in the presence of 0.1 mM Mg2+.