Answer to Question #100984 in Chemistry for Abhishek

Question

What is the role of ribosomal P-site and A-site in protein biosynthesis? How does streptomycin perform its antibiotic function?

Answer 1

The A-site is where aminoacyl t-RNA enters the ribosome. The P-site is a the point where the peptidyl tRNA (the peptide bond between two amino acid residues attached to one t-RNA molecule) is formed in the ribosome. In addition, the first aminoacyl tRNA also enters the P-site.

Streptomycin binds to the bacterial 30S ribosome changing the shape of rRNA. As a result, the antibiotic leads to the incorrect translation of mRNA.