Erythromycin and 5S rRNA binding properties of the spinach chloroplast ribosomal protein CL22

The spinach chloroplast ribosomal protein (r-protein) CL22 contains a central region homologous to the Escherichia coli r-protein L22 plus long N- and C-terminal extensions. We show in this study that the CL22 combines two properties which in E. coli ribosome are split between two separate proteins. The CL22 which binds to the 5S rRNA can also be linked to an erythromycin derivative added to the 50S ribosomal subunit. This latter property is similar to that of the E. coli L22 and suggests a similar localization in the 50S subunit. We have overproduced the r-protein CL22 and deleted forms of this protein in E. coli. We show that the overproduced CL22 binds to the chloroplast 5S rRNA and that the deleted protein containing the N- and C-terminal extensions only has lost the 5S rRNA binding property. We suggest that the central homologous regions of the CL22 contains the RNA binding domain.