An investigation of the 16-S RNA binding sites of ribosomal proteins S4, S8, S15, and S20 FROM Escherichia coli.

The RNA binding sites of four 30-S ribosomal subunit proteins from Escherichia coli, namely S4, S8, S15, and S20 were prepared from reconstituted single protein - 16-S-RNA complexes by mild enzymic digestion of non-protected RNA regions. Oligonucleotide fingerprints of the protected RNA regions were obtained and their positions were located within the 16-S-RNA sequence. They were not completely contiguous regions of RNA; oligonucleotides had been excised from each of them. The binding sites of S4 and S20, and those of S8 and S15 showed overlapping. The specificity of the RNA binding sites was confirmed by a reconstitution method.