The molecular basis of suppression in an ochre suppressor strain possessing altered ribosomes.

Escherichia coli K12 2320(lambda)-15B has a mutation that results in ochre suppressor activity.(1) This mutation concomitantly causes a decreased growth rate in rich medium, an increased sensitivity to streptomycin,(1) and the production of some altered 30S ribosomes which are differentially sensitive to RNase.(2) The results presented below demonstrate that the molecules which cause suppression are tRNA. These observations justify the conclusions that the suppressor mutation did not occur in a structural gene for a ribosomal component, and that the decreased growth rate in rich medium, the increased sensitivity to streptomycin, and the production of altered 30S ribosomes are probably all secondary consequences of the suppressor mutation.