The location of spermine in bacterial ribosomes as indicated by 1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and by ethidium bromide

Abstract

1. When the binding of ethidium bromide to rRNA is measured both in the presence and in the absence of spermine, by spectrophotometric titrations, by gel filtration, or by the changes in fluorescence intensity, spermine competes with ethidium bromide for sites on the rRNA; under the conditions used in these experiments ethidium bromide is bound to the double-stranded regions of rRNA. 2. When an excess of ethidium bromide is added to ribosomes from Bacillus stearothermophilus approx. 80% of the endogenous spermine is displaced from the ribosomes. 3. [(14)C]Spermine is fixed to ribosomes by either formaldehyde or 1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. Most of the [(14)C]spermine, fixed to ribosomes by 1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, attaches to the ribosomal protein. 4. It is concluded that most of the endogenous spermine is bound to the double-stranded RNA in ribosomes, and that some of these double-stranded regions to which spermine is attached also have ribosomal proteins bound to them.