RNA component of the ribosome that provides a mechanism for translation of messenger RNA (decoding) during protein synthesis.
The nucleic acid component of ribosomes, making up two-thirds of the mass of the bacteria Escherichia coli ribosome, and about one-half of the mass of mammalian ribosomes. Ribosomal RNA accounts for nearly 80 percent of the RNA content of the bacterial cell.
A function of ribonucleic acid combines with proteins to form the ribosomes of cells.