Distribution of elongation factor 2 between particulate and soluble fractions of the brine shrimp Artemia during early development.

The ADP-ribosylation of elongation factor 2 (EF-2) in vitro was used to quantitate EF-2 and to determine its subcellular distribution in extracts of Artemia embryos at different stages of development. In extracts from dormant cysts of Artemia 40-45% of EF-2 is complexed to macromolecules smaller than ribosomes, whereas the remainder is soluble or free in the cytosol. During early development the amount of "complexed" EF-2 decreases markedly concomitant with an increase in the pool of soluble EF-2. Complexed EF-2 was found to be associated with macromolecules which sediment at 16S-20S and 40S-50S and not with monoribosomes or polyribosomes as reported for mammalian systems. The data show that the decrease in complexed EF-2 is associated with the resumption of development in Artemia.