Isolation of active polyribosomes from the cytoplasm, mitochondria and chloroplasts of Euglena gracilis

1. A procedure is described for the isolation of intact polyribosomes from the cytoplasm, chloroplasts and mitochondria of Euglena gracilis. 2. All three polyribosomal preparations incorporated labelled amino acids in a system in vitro. The cytoplasmic system was inhibited by chcloheximide but not by chloramphenicol. Both the chloroplast and the mitochondrial systems, however, were inhibited by chloramphenicol but not by cycloheximide. It is shown that mitochondrial polyribosomes, like the polyribosomes from cytoplasm and chloroplasts, can participate directly in protein synthesis without supplementary mRNA being added to the synthesizing system, as in previously reported instances. 3. Sedimentation coefficients were measured for the ribosomes, ribosomal subunits, and rRNA of the cytoplasm, chloroplasts and mitochondria. 4. The G+C content was 55% for cytoplasmic rRNA, 50% for chloroplast rRNA, and 29% for mitochondrial rRNA. 5. The cytoplasmic ribosomal subunits contained a ribonuclease activity that was inhibited by heparin.