A sulphydryl group is not essential for the binding of GDP to elongation factor Tu

Molecular properties of elongation factor Tu from Streptomyces aureofaciens and Escherichia coli

Some molecular properties of the elongation factor Tu of protein synthesis purified in an aggregated state from gram-positive Streptomyces aureofaciens were studied and compared with those of Tu from gram-negative Escherichia coli. Electrofocussing under reducing conditions showed that the molecule of EF-Tu from S. aureofaciens has an isoelectric point shifted more to the acidic side compared with EF-Tu from E. coli. A comparison of amino acid composition revealed minor differences in the content of several amino acids in the two factors and showed that EF-Tu from S. aureofaciens contains four half-cystines per molecule. Under denaturing conditions only two mercapto groups reacted with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Limited tryptic digestion of aggregated EF-Tu from S. aureofaciens yields six fragments: the four main fragments are of a similar size as those of the E. coli factor. All fragments detected after trypsin digestion of S. aureofaciens EF-Tu were immunologically cross-reactive with antibodies against E. coli EF-Tu. However, even after 2 h of the reaction there still remains a small part of streptomycete factor uncleaved, which documents high resistance of aggregated EF-Tu towards trypsin.

Homologies in the primary structure of GTP-binding proteins: the nucleotide-binding site of EF-Tu and p21

An examination of the available amino acid sequences of GTP-binding proteins has revealed that each contains a polypeptide essentially homologous for all of them. These sequences for elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu) and the human bladder protein p21 exhibit a singular degree of homology (50%). Chemical and structural evidence indicates that this sequence in EF-Tu constitutes part of the nucleotide-binding site. The homologous sequences may therefore contribute to the GTP-binding sites of the other proteins.