Ribosomal protein L7, which is found in archaea and eukaryotes but not in prokaryotes, binds domain II of the 23S rRNA as well as the 5S rRNA and is one of five ribosomal proteins that mediate the interactions 5S rRNA makes with the ribosome. The eukaryotic L7 members have an N-terminal extension not found in the archeal L7 orthologs. L7 is closely related to the ribosomal L30 protein found in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.