RIBOSOMES Bacterial cells have thousands of Ribosomes in their cytoplasm, which gives cytoplasm a grainy appearance. Number of Ribosomes in bacterial cell varies from 10000 to 15000. Chemically, a Ribosome is a combination of a special type of RNA called ribosomal RNA, or rRNA (about 60 %), and protein (40 %). Ribosomes are the sites of Protein synthesis (Translation) in cells. The Ribosomes are held together by mRNA and form Polyribosomes or Polysomes. All Ribosomes are composed of two sub-units, each of which is composed of polypeptides and molecules of RNA called ribosomal RNA (rRNA). The sub-units of Prokaryotic 70S ribosomes are a smaller 30S sub-unit and a larger 50S sub-unit. ü The 30S sub-unit contains Polypeptides and a single rRNA molecule ü The 50S sub-unit has Polypeptides and two rRNA molecules. The letter S refers to Svedberg units, which indicate the relative rate ...