Evidence for alteration of the membrane-bound ribosomes in Micrococcus luteus cells exposed to lead.

Micrococcus luteus cell exposed to PB(NO3)2 contained cytosol ribosomal particles and disaggregated membranal ribosomal particles as determined by ultracentirifugation and spectral studies. Approx. 60% of the membrane ribosome fraction from lead exposed cells had a sedimentation value of 8.4S. Cytosol ribosomes from lead exposed cells as well as membranal and cytosol ribosomes from control cells were comparable by their contents of predominantly the 70S type with the 50S and 100S present in relatively small amounts. The lead content of the 8.4S component was more than 200 times higher than the components with higher sedimentation coefficients from lead exposed cells and approc. 650 times more than that of control cell ribosomes. The cells exposed to lead, however, showed no adverse effects from the lead in respect to their growth rates and cellular yields. These results indicate that lead is interacting only at specific sites of the membrane and is inducing events initiated only in strategic cellular regions. These data further substantiate that subtle changes do occur in lead exposed cells that show no obvious effects. It is assumed that these 'minor' alterations are, in toto, biologically significant.