Lincomycin, an inhibitor of aminoacyl sRNA binding to ribosomes.

Abstract

Lincomycin inhibits cell-free protein synthesis in Bacillus stearothermophilus but not in Escherichia coli. The site of inhibition is the ribosome. The binding of C14-phenylalanine-sRNA but not of poly oridine to the ribosome is inhibited. Active ribosomes have been obtained by the reassociation of heterologous 30S and 50S subunits from the 2 test organisms, and the use of these ribosomes made possible the identification of the 50S subunit as a site of action of this antibiotic. The 50S subunit from Escherichia coli and the 30S subunits of either organism were insensitive to the antibiotic. These experiments also point out that the 50S subunits of the ribosomes from these 2 organisms have distinctly different properties.