The large ribosomal subunit has a distinct feature, the stalk, extending outside the ribosome. In bacteria it is called the L12 stalk. The base of the stalk is protein uL10 to which two or three dimers of proteins bL12 bind. In archea and eukarya P1 and P2 proteins constitute the stalk. All these extending proteins, that have a high degree of flexibility due to a hinge between their N- and C-terminal parts, are essential for proper functionalization of some of the translation factors. The role of the stalk proteins has remained enigmatic for decades but is gradually approaching an understanding. In this review we summarise the knowhow about the structure and function of the ribosomal stalk till date starting from the early phase of ribosome research.

中文翻译：

---

神秘的核糖体茎

大核糖体亚基具有明显的特征，即茎，延伸到核糖体之外。在细菌中，它被称为 L12 茎。茎的基部是蛋白质 uL10，蛋白质 bL12 的两个或三个二聚体与之结合。在古细菌和真核生物中，P1 和 P2 蛋白质构成了茎。所有这些延伸的蛋白质，由于它们的 N 端和 C 端部分之间的铰链而具有高度的灵活性，对于某些翻译因子的适当功能化至关重要。几十年来，茎蛋白的作用一直是个谜，但正在逐渐接近人们的理解。在这篇综述中，我们总结了从核糖体研究的早期阶段至今关于核糖体茎的结构和功能的知识。