Small-angle X-ray study of the 50 S ribosomal subunit of Escherichia coli. A comparison of different models.

A small angle X-ray scattering curve obtained from Escherichia coli 50 S subunits has been compared with the scattering curves calculated for three-dimensional 50 S models proposed by various authors. The one proposed by Lake, Stöffler and Vasiliev showed to some extent a good agreement with our experimental data. Calculating a large number of possible particle structures we found a model which optimally fits our experimental curves, but it's two-dimensional projections differ a little from the projections of 50 S subunits observed by electron microscopy.