rRNA-protein neighbourhood in Escherichia coli 70 S ribosomes and 70 S initiation complex. Probing by bifunctional Pt(II)-containing reagent.

Abstract The cleavable homobifunctional reagent dichloro[ N , N , N ′, N ′-tetrakis(2-aminoethyl)-1,6-hexamethylenediamminediplatinum(II)] dichloride was used for studying rRNA-protein cross-links in free 35 S-labelled 70 S ribosomes and within initiation complex ribosome · AUGU 6 · fMet-tRNA Met f . It was shown that the sets of proteins cross-linked to 16 S and 23 S rRNA in free 70 S ribosomes and in 70 S initiation complex do not differ significantly. The authors are the first to demonstrate most of the 23 S rRNA-protein cross-links and some 16 S rRNA-protein cross-links, in particular those with L7/L12 protein.