Configuration of Inactive and Active Polysomes of the Developing Down Feather

Inactive four-ribosome polyribosomes, insensitive to ribonuclease, have the form of tight symmetrical squares and appear in feather cells during the early and intermediate periods of development. When, on the 13th day of incubation, the inactive polyribosomes become sensitive to ribonuclease and can then synthesize protein, the squares open up so that the four-ribosome polysomes are strung out in the configuration characteristic of functioning polysomes.