Isolation of amino acid acceptor RNA from purified avian myeloblastosis virus

Abstract

Two RNA components were isolated from avian myeloblastosis virus which had been purified by a procedure that includes RNase treatment of the virus. About 60% of the RNA had a sedimentation coefficient of 65 s, whereas the remainder of the RNA had a sedimentation coefficient of 4 s. The 4 s AMV RNA can be aminoacylated by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases prepared from chick embryos. The larger RNA cannot be charged. Compared to RNA from myeloblasts or chick embryos, aminoacylation of 4 s AMV RNA was nearly the same, or elevated, for Val, Pro, Met, Gly, Asp and Arg. It was greatly reduced, or undetectable, for Ile, Ser, Phe, Thr and Tyr. It is concluded that the 4 s RNA found in AMV does not have the same amino acid-accepting activity as that found in host cells.