Ribosomal proteins in halobacteria

The amino acid sequences of 16 ribosomal proteins from archaebacterium Halobacterium marismortui have been determined by a direct protein chemical method. In addition, amino acid sequences of three proteins, S11, S18, and L25, have been established by DNA sequencing of their genes as well as by protein sequencing. Comparison of their sequences with those of ribosomal proteins from other organisms revealed that proteins S14, S16, S19, and L25 are related to both eukaryotic and eubacterial ribosomal proteins, being more homologous to eukaryotic than eubacterial counterparts, and proteins S12, S15, and L16 are related to only eukaryotic ribosomal proteins. Furthermore, some proteins are found to be similar to only eubacterial proteins, whereas other proteins show no homology to any other known ribosomal proteins. Comparisons of amino acid compositions between halophilic and nonhalophilic ribosomal proteins revealed that halophilic proteins gain asparatic and glutamic acid residues and significantly lose lysine and arginine residues. In addition, halophilic proteins seem to lose isoleucine as compared with Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins.Key words: halobacteria, ribosomal proteins, amino acid sequence.