Evidence that 16S RNA from E.coli can assume two different biologically active conformations

Abstract
We have recently shown1 that 16S RNA can be extracted from 30S ribosomes by an acetic acid - ureaprecipitation procedure which yields RNA capable of binding 13 individual ribosomal proteins. This is in contrast to phenol extracted 16S RNA which cans pecifically associate with only 7 proteins2–7. in the experiments reported here, we demonstrate that the difference in protein binding capacities is due to a relatively more “open” configuration possessed by the aceticacid-urea 16S RNA.