A new concept of the function of elongation factor 1 in peptid chain elongation.

An entirely new model for the mechanism of elongation factor 1 (EF-1) function is presented. Experiments in which mixtures of [3H]EF-1, ribosomes from Drebs II ascites cells and various additional co-factors were analyzed by chromatography on Sepharose 6B, show that EF-1 binds to the ribosome early in the translation process and remains bound on the ribosome during translation. Optimal EF-1 binding occurs on polynucleotide-programmed ribosomes carrying a tRNA in their P-site. On the other hand it was clearly shown that EF-2 attached at each translocation event and was then released before a new Phe-tRNA could be bound.