INDUCED ENZYME FORMED ON BACTERIAL POLYRIBOSOMES

Abstract
The ribosomes (70-80%) in Escherichia coli form polysomes which are active in protein synthesis. The addition of an inducer for [beta]-galactosldase results in the accumulation of [beta]-galactosldase activity on very large polysomes. In the absence of the inducer, there is no activity. A kinetic analysis of the rise of the polysomal-bound enzyme suggests that it is a precursor of the free enzyme. The [beta]- galactosidase polysome contains approximately 40 ribosomes and a messenger ribonucleic-acid (RNA) strand of molecular weight 1.3 million. There are 3-10 [beta]-galactosidase polysomes in the fully induced cell. The mechanism for the assembly of [beta]-galactosidase is discussed. If [beta]-galactosldase is made of 12 monomerlc units, it is likely that its messenger RNA codes for other proteins as well.

This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit: