The binding of kinetin to plant ribosomes

The synthetic cytokinins kinetin and 6-benzylaminopurine exhibit equilibrium-type binding to purified chinese-cabbage leaf ribosomes. At 23mum and 4 degrees C one molecule of kinetin and 1.34 molecules of 6-benzylaminopurine are bound per ribosome. Adenine and adenine derivatives that are inactive as cytokinins showed much less affinity for ribosomes. Pretreatment of ribosomes with 0.5m-ammonium chloride or Triton X-100 did not decrease the extent of cytokinin binding. Binding appeared to be to the 83S ribosome species. A positive correlation between the extent of binding and the biological effect of various cytokinin analogues was demonstrated. These results are discussed in terms of cytokinin control of growth processes at the ribosomal level.