Fluorescence modification of Escherichia coli 5S RNA

Reaction of 5S RNA with chlorocetaldehyde leads to the conversion of unpaired adenines to the fluorescent 1,N6-etheno-adenine derivatives. Up to 16 of the 23 adenines in free 5S RNA can be modified, the fastest reacting are A29, A34, A57-59. Partial modification of adenines in this area results in a 20% reduction in the efficiency of 5S RNA incorporation into 50S subunits during reconstitution and a 15% reduction in the activity of these subunits in peptide synthesis. Fluorescence from 1,N6-etheno-adenine is quenched in free 5S RNA and is not detectably further influenced by the binding of proteins E-L5, E-L18 and E-L25, nor by the first stage of the two step E. coli 50S subunit reconstitution procedure. However, the fluorescence is further reduced to near zero after the second step of the reconstitution. Thus, 5S RNS free in solution contains 16 unpaired adenines, those in the region between A29 and A59 particularly accessible to modification by chlorocetaldehyde. This portion of the 5S RNA molecule appears to undergo either a conformational change or interacts with other ribosomal components in the last stage of subunit reassembly.