Isolation and characterization of polysomes from Trypanosoma brucei

The isolation of polysomes in bulk from bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei is described. The polysomes are active in in vitro protein synthesis in the presence or absence of initiation inhibitors. Nascent variant surface antigen (VSA) has been detected on these polysomes using purified radio-iodinated antibody. EDTA-induced ribosomal sub-units and their large rRNA's are characterized. The 26S rRNA is nicked to produce 2 molecules which are both smaller than the 19S rRNA of the small sub-unit which is larger than that found in the majority of eukaryotic small sub-units.