AMINO ACID INCORPORATION AND THE REVERSION OF ITS INITIAL PHASE WITH CELL-FREE TETRAHYMENA PREPARATIONS

Abstract

The protozoon, Tetrahymena pyriformis, appears to contain an amino acid incorporation system that is similar to that of higher animals. The non-particulate fraction can incorporate amino acids in a linkage which is hot-TCA-, RNAase-, and alkali-unstable and is, therefore, presumably due to linkage with soluble polynucleotide. Other experiments indicate that the amino acid attachment to soluble polynucleotide is a reversible reaction obtainable by the addition of pyrophosphate but considerably enhanced by the addition of pyrophosphate and AMP. This indicates that the transfer of the activated amino acid, presumably amino acyl adenylate, to the polynucleotide may be reversed on addition of both reaction products.