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Flat tetragonal microcrystals of 70S ribosomes from Thermus thermophilus have been studied by electron microscopy of freeze-dried and heavy metal-shadowed specimens and the crystal surface relief has been determined. Analysis of a set of micrographs shows that the ribosomes on the crystal surface are arranged into a square P4 lattice which appears in two enantiomorphic forms. Copyright 1993, 1999 Academic Press

The structure of laminar 70S ribosome microcrystals from Thermus thermophilus has been studied by electron microscopy using negative staining, freeze-drying, and shadow-casting as well as ultrathin sectioning. The microcrystals are composed of identical layers of one ribosome particle thickness and can split into monolayers under appropriate conditions. Low-resolution analysis of the crystal structure suggests that sixteen ribosomal particles compose the tetragonal unit cell of the space group P42₁2 with the dimensions 50 × 50 × 76 nm. Copyright 1993, 1999 Academic Press