KEY TERMS:
- The ribosome is a large assembly of RNA and proteins that synthesizes proteins under direction from an mRNA template. Bacterial ribosomes sediment at 70S, eukaryotic ribosomes at 80S. A ribosome can be dissociated into two subunits.
- A ribonucleoprotein is a complex of RNA with proteins.
- The large subunit of the ribosome (50S in bacteria, 60S in eukaryotes) has the peptidyl transferase active site that synthesizes the peptide bond.
- The small subunit of the ribosome (30S in bacteria, 40S in eukaryotes) binds the mRNA.
- Ribosomes are characterized by their rate of sedimentation (70S for bacterial ribosomes and 80S for eukaryotic ribosomes).
- A ribosome consists of a large subunit (50S or 60S for bacteria and eukaryotes) and a small subunit (30S or 40S).
- The ribosome provides the environment in which aminoacyl-tRNAs add amino acids to the growing polypeptide chain in response to the corresponding triplet codons.
- A ribosome moves along an mRNA from 5
to 3
.
Translation of an mRNA into a polypeptide chain is catalyzed
by the ribosome. Ribosomes are traditionally
described in terms of their (approximate) rate of sedimentation (measured in
Svedbergs, in which a higher S value indicates a greater rate of sedimentation
and a larger mass). Bacterial ribosomes generally sediment at ~70S. The
ribosomes of the cytoplasm of higher eukaryotic cells are larger, usually
sedimenting at ~80S.
The ribosome is a compact ribonucleoprotein particle consisting of two subunits.
Each subunit has an RNA component, including one very large RNA molecule, and
many proteins. The relationship between a ribosome and its subunits is depicted
in Figure 5.8. The two subunits dissociate in
vitro when the concentration of Mg2+ ions is reduced. In each
case, the large subunit is about twice the mass of
the small subunit. Bacterial (70S) ribosomes have
subunits that sediment at 50S and 30S. The subunits of eukaryotic cytoplasmic
(80S) ribosomes sediment at 60S and 40S. The two subunits work together as part
of the complete ribosome, but each undertakes distinct reactions in protein
synthesis.
All the ribosomes of a given cell compartment are identical.
They undertake the synthesis of different proteins by associating with the
different mRNAs that provide the actual coding sequences.
The ribosome provides the environment that controls the
recognition between a codon of mRNA and the anticodon of tRNA. Reading the
genetic code as a series of adjacent triplets, protein synthesis proceeds from
the start of a coding region to the end. A protein is assembled by the
sequential addition of amino acids in the direction from the N-terminus to the
C-terminus as a ribosome moves along the mRNA (Dintzis, 1961).
A ribosome begins translation at the 5![]()
end of a coding region; it translates each
triplet codon into an amino acid as it proceeds towards the 3![]()
end. At each codon, the appropriate
aminoacyl-tRNA associates with the ribosome, donating its amino acid to the
polypeptide chain. At any given moment, the ribosome can accommodate the two
aminoacyl-tRNAs corresponding to successive codons, making it possible for a
peptide bond to form between the two corresponding amino acids. At each step,
the growing polypeptide chain becomes longer by one amino acid.