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. 1969 Jun;113(1):117–121. doi: 10.1042/bj1130117

The binding of spermine to the ribosomes and ribosomal ribonucleic acid from Bacillus stearothermophilus

L Stevens 1,*
PMCID: PMC1184610  PMID: 5806384

Abstract

1. The total intracellular concentrations of Na+, K+, Mg2+, spermine, spermidine and RNA were measured in Bacillus stearothermophilus. 2. The binding of spermine to ribosomes and to ribosomal RNA from B. stearothermophilus was studied under various conditions by using a gel-filtration technique. 3. The affinity of spermine for ribosomes and for ribosomal RNA decreased with increasing ionic strength of the medium in which they were suspended. 4. The extent of spermine binding did not change appreciably in the temperature range 4–60°. 5. Optimum binding occurred at about pH7·0. 6. The number of binding sites for spermine on either ribosomes or ribosomal RNA was 0·10–0·13/RNA phosphate group. 7. A high proportion of the intracellular spermine is likely to be bound to the ribosomes in vivo; spermine competes with Mg2+ on equal terms for sites on the ribosomes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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