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A classic experiment in the history of special relativity was designed to test the prediction that a moving magnetic dipole m develops an electric dipole moment p=v×m/c. In 1913 the competing theory was Lorentz’s electron theory. The experiment used a rotating magnetic medium composed of steel spheres embedded in wax. The results of the experiment agreed with the prediction of special relativity. A paper by Pellegrini and Swift reanalyzed the experiment using rotating coordinates. Their calculation disagreed with special relativity. One possible source of the disagreement is the nature of medium used in the experiment. This paper presents a straightforward calculation of the electric field of a steel sphere moving in a uniform magnetic field. The result demonstrates that any method of calculation consistent with Maxwell’s equations in the laboratory frame predicts a p=v×m/c contribution to the electric dipole moment. The calculations are carried out for a single moving sphere, while the Wilson experiment was done on an assembly of many spheres. We present arguments making it plausible that our result holds for such an assembly.

The effect of aminoacylation on the structure of yeast phenylalanine tRNA was evaluated by laser light scattering. In these experiments, the translational diffusion coefficient (D20,w) of phenylalanyl-tRNA was monitored continuously during spontaneous deacylation in a variety of solution conditions. The results reveal that significant changes can occur in the hydrodynamic volume and electric charge as a consequence of aminoacylation but that the effects are magnesium dependent. At neutral pH, 20 degrees C, and 0.1 M salt, the D20,w value increased by 18% when deacylation occurred in 2--10 mM Mg2+ concentrations while no change in diffusivity was observed for tRNA deacylating in 0.5--1.0 mM Mg2+. The Mg2+ concentration dependence of the D20,w changes behaves in highly cooperative manner. The electric charges of aminoacyl-tRNA and nonacylated tRNA in 1 and 10 mM Mg2+ were estimated from the diffusive virial coefficients. In the higher Mg2+ conditions, aminoacyl-tRNA has a charge of 15 +/- 2e- while that of the nonacylated form is 10 +/- 2e-; both acylated and nonacylated tRNA have a charge of 11 +/- 4e- in 1 mM Mg2+. Taken together, the results indicate that aminoacylation permits the binding of additional Mg2+, resulting, in turn, in the formation of a more extended conformer of lower diffusivity and greater negative charge. The results also provide a possible explanation for several contradictory results in the literature.

Photon-correlation spectroscopy is a powerful technique for measuring the translational diffusion coefficient of particles and macromolecules in solution. In the study described here, this technique was used to analyze a specific dimerization process involving the association of two tRNA molecules through complementary anticodons. The tRNAs used in the analysis were E. coli tRNA and yeast tRNAPhe. The experimental data on the concentration dependence of the observed diffusion constants are shown to agree well with theoretical predictions. From these data, the equilibrium constant of the association reaction was determined for dimers formed over a wide range of temperatures and in several different solution conditions. In solutions of 0.1M ionic strength at 22°C, the equilibrium constants vary from 1 × 105M−1 in the absence of magnesium to 1.5 × 106M−1 in 10 mM Mg+2. The enthalpy and entropy changes for dimer formation in the absence and presence, 5 and 10 mM, of magnesium have been obtained from the temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant. The results show that both ΔH and ΔS contribute to the free energy of binding and that their relative contributions are similar for each solution condition evaluated.

The technique of laser light scattering was used to evaluate the effects of Mg+2 and ionic strength on the solution structures of seven tRNA species. Information about ion effects on both conformation and electric charge were derived from measurements of the translational diffusion constants and diffusive virial coefficients. E. coli tRNAMetf and six elongator tRNAs from both Class I and II were studied. The diffusion measurements show that the responses of all but the initiator species are qualitatively similar to each other and to that of bulk tRNA, but that significant quantitative differences also obtain. All of the elongator species exhibited an anomolous increase in diffusivity reported earlier by us for bulk tRNA when placed in a low salt-low Mg+2 condition. The initiator tRNA did not undergo this transition and unlike the other tRNAs tested was apparently more compact in 1 mM Mg+2 than 10 mM Mg+2 at ionic strengths in excess of 0.1 M. At 0.1 M ionic strength, pH 7.2, the average net charge of the tRNAs ranged from 7-12 e- in 1 mM Mg+2 and 3-7 e- in 10 mM Mg+2, consistent with the binding of 1-2 additional Mg+2 ions in the higher Mg+2 condition.

Laser light scattering has been used to evaluate conformational differences between free 16S RNA and several specific protein-16S RNA complexes. Proteins that interact strongly with the 16S RNA early in subunit assembly stabilize the RNA chain against unfolding in 1 mM Mg2+ and actually promote the formation of a more compact teriary structure in 20 mM Mg2+. A vital function of these proteins may therfore consist in altering the configuration of the RNA so that further assembly reactions can take place.

The diffusion constant of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase has been measured by laser light scattering under conditions of complex formation with Mg2+, L-phenylalanine, MgATP, tRNAPhe, modified tRNAPhe, tRNAPhe (yeast), and noncognate tRNA. The diffusion constant (pH 7.5, 20 degrees C) of the free enzyme is (2.85 +/- 0.005) x 10(-7) cm2 s-1, of the enzyme . Mg2+ complex (2.40 +/- 0.05) x 10(-7) cm2 s-1 and of the enzyme . Mg2+ . tRNAPhe complex (2.95 +/- 0.06) x 10(-7) cm2 s-1. The effect of tRNAPhe is only seen when the enzyme is saturated with Mg2+. The smaller substrates exhibit no effect besides a small increase of the value of the diffusion constant under conditions where the enzyme-phenylalanyladenylate is synthesized. Of the noncognate tRNATyr and tRNAIle, the latter is able to associate with the enzyme, causing the value of the diffusion constant to increase. tRNAPhe (yeast) and tRNAhvPhe (photo-cross-linked tRNAPhe) exhibit similar effects. The observed variation of the diffusion constant is attributed to conformational changes of the enzyme. The opposite effects of Mg2+ and tRNAPhe are interpreted as an expansion and recontraction, respectively, of the enzyme molecule. In several cases, the effects were used to follow a titration of the enzyme with a ligand. Dissociation constants were calculated from the resulting titration curves, yielding values which are in agreement with those obtained by other techniques. It is established by comparison that of the two possible binding sites for each Mg2+ and tRNAPhe the diffusion constant reflects occupation of only a single class of sites.

MUCH effort has been devoted to analysing the effect of aminoacylation on the structure of transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA). While it is generally held that changes in conformation provide the basis for the discrimination between acylated and non-acylated tRNA in tRNA: aminoacyl tRNA synthetase, tRNA: ribosome and tRNA: co-repressor interactions, the evidence to support this view to date is in serious conflict. We have been using the technique of laser light scattering to investigate the tertiary structure of tRNA (ref. 1). This technique is particularly well suited for analysing structural changes in macromolecules such as tRNA as it can detect changes of as little as 1 % in the translational diffusion constant. The method has the advantage of allowing rapid, continual data monitoring making it possible to study dynamic changes in conformation. We describe here the use of this technique to monitor the diffusion coefficient of aminoacylated tRNA in conditions where deacylation occurs spontaneously. The results clearly demonstrate that: (1) large changes in the conformation of yeast phenylalanine tRNA do occur on aminoacylation, (2) the change can be reduced to an undetectable value by small changes in the solution parameters, and (3), the results apparently provide an explanation for many of the discrepancies observed by others.