Question

You gradually treat ribosome with SDS followed by Proteinase K and the finally extract it with phenol. Which of the options match the result you expect?

(a) Ribosome withstands all these treatments and still has peptidyl transferase activity

(b) It stands upto SDS treatment

(c) It stands no treatment at all

(d) It stands upto proteinase K treatment

The question was posed to me in semester exam.

Asked question is from Ribosome as Ribozyme in section Gene Expression : Translation of Cytogenetics

Answer 1

The correct choice is (d) It stands upto proteinase K treatment

The explanation is: Ribosomes treated by SDS and proteinase K shows a remarkable ability to still carryout peptidyl transfer activity. However, extraction with phenol destroys this activity. This may be because it disturbs some higher order structure.