A ribonuclease-resistant region of 5S RNA and its relation to the RNA binding sites of proteins L18 and L25.

An RNA fragment, constituting three subfragments of nucleotide sequences 1-11, 69-87 and 89-120, is the most ribonuclease-resistant part of the native 5S RNA of Escherichia coli, at 0 degrees C. A smaller fragment of nucleotide sequence 69-87 and 90-110 is ribonuclease-resistant at 25 degrees. Degradation of the L25-5S RNA complex with ribonuclease A or T2 yielded RNA fragments similar to those of the free 5S RNA at 0 degrees C and 25 degrees C; moreover L25 remained strongly bound to both RNA fragments and also produced some opening of the RNA structure in at least two positions. Protein L18 initially protected most of the 5S RNA against ribonuclease digestion, at 0 degrees C, but was then gradually released prior to the formation of the larger RNA fragment. It cannot be concluded, therefore, as it was earlier (Gray et al., 1973), that this RNA fragment contains the primary binding site of L18.