Characterization of Messenger RNA for Hemoglobin
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
Messenger RNA for hemoglobin has long been the most sought after messenger. Since the ribosomes of rabbit reticulocytes synthesize more than 80÷ of their protein as hemoglobin, it would be expected that more than 80÷ of the mRNA found on these ribosomes should be that for hemoglobin. Assuming that the triplet code is correct and that there are approximately 140 amino acids in each chain of hemoglobin, there should be at least 420 nucleotides in the mRNA for α and β chains of hemoglobin. The molecular weight for mRNA for hemoglobin should then be approximately 143 × 103 daltons, assuming equal representation of the four nucleotides as the free acid or 154 × 103 daltons as the sodium salt. According to Kurland (1960), this would correspond to a sedimentation coefficient of 7.6 and 7.9 S. Other formulae give values of 9.1 and 9.9 S (Gierer, 1958) or 8.6 and 8.9...
