Subunits of yeast RNA polymerase I involved in interactions with DNA and nucleotides.

Ovine mammary gland mRNAs were translated in a wheat-germ cell-free system in the presence of radioactive amino acids. Automated Edman degradation performed on α-lactalbumin isolated by immunoprecipitation from the mixture of radiolabelled lactoproteins showed the occurrence of an hydrophobic 19 residues long amino terminal extension. The pre-protein represents the primary translation product since the amino terminal methionyl residue was found to be donated by initiator $\text{Met-tRNA}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^{\mathrm{Met}}$. Comparison of the signals of ovine α-lactalbumin and hen's egg white lysozyme, two homologous proteins which are thought to be derived from a common ancestor, suggests that the signal region has evolved at least as rapidly as the remaining part of the polypeptide chain.