The effect of β-ecdysone on the rate of peptide chain elongation in imaginal disks of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Previous investigation ( Fristrom et al., 1974) has shown that β-ecdysone increases protein synthesis in imaginal disks of Drosophila melanogaster either by increasing the rate of translational initiations or the rate of peptide elongation. The rate of peptide elongation (2.1 amino acids per second) was found to be the same in the presence and absence of β-ecdysone. Thus, the evidence indicates that β-ecdysone causes an increase in the rate of protein synthesis by increasing the rate of translational initiations.