This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access.
Abstract
The concentration of RNA in rabbit lenses decreases continuously during the first year of life. This is due mainly to the decrease in the microsomal RNA which sediments at and above 60,000 G, and parallels the decrease in the rate of synthesis of lens proteins. The rabbit lenses contain an RNA fraction which is linked to the albuminoid. In 2-week-old rabbits this protein fraction contains 1 to 3 per cent RNA. The concentration of RNA in the albuminoid decreases sharply during the first year of life. Soluble RNA represents 30 to 40 per cent of the total RNA in 2-week-old and more than 75 per cent in 1-year-old animals. The HClO4 extracts of soluble lens proteins remaining after removal of all cytoplasmic particles and the so-called acid-soluble nucleotides contain nucleotides which, in the orcinol reaction, react like purine mononucleotides substituted in position 5.