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. 1966 Jul;100(1):102–109. doi: 10.1042/bj1000102

Magnesium ions and the structure of Escherichia coli ribosomal ribonucleic acid

A Rodgers 1
PMCID: PMC1265099  PMID: 4960869

Abstract

1. The effect of removing Mg2+ from a purified high-molecular-weight (1·07×106) fraction of Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA was examined by ultracentrifugation, thermal denaturation and optical rotation. 2. At moderate I (0·1m-sodium chloride), EDTA at 2–50mm has little effect on RNA; at low I, 0·01–0·04 (with tris as counter-ion), two boundaries appear. 3. The leading boundary, S20,w about 20s, is identified with the original material with counter-ion Mg2+ (`ionic atmosphere') removed, leading to an expanded form. 4. The slow boundary, 15–16s, is associated with a further loss of Mg2+ and a further expansion, sensitive to EDTA concentration: it is proposed that this Mg2+ is localized on the polynucleotide chain, i.e. `site-bound'. 5. I is important and the EDTA effect at low I is reversible if Na+ is added immediately after the EDTA: this Na+ reversibility is lost on standing at 0°. It is suggested that changes in the tertiary structure may be associated with this loss of reversibility. 6. Thermal-denaturation studies show that there is no loss of secondary structure associated with these changes: change in the optical-rotatory-dispersion spectrum in the region of the Cotton effect may be associated with this change in tertiary structure.

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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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