In: Biology
Explain why the prokaryotic ribosomal subunits are defined as 30S and 50S, but the assembled ribosome is defined as 70S.
The ribosomal subunits are indicates as 30S, 50S, etc. in which the S is the measure of rate of sedimentation in Svedberg units, but does not represent he size. Thus, we should not add the individual fragments to determine the ribosome size. Thus, in prokaryotes, the 30S and 50S ribosomes combine together to form the 70S ribosomes.