Modification of tobacco mosaic virus by polyornithine and lecithin.

Abstract

Combined action of polyornithine and lecithin modified tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) virions making them sensitive to ribonuclease (RNase), pronase or Triton X-100. Sedimentational analysis and examination of the fluorescence spectrum revealed that the reaction product obtained after RNase treatments of modified TMV was a three-component complex made of coat protein, polyornithine and lecithin. The minimum requirement for the modification was completely fulfilled by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, suggesting that a positively charged nitrogen group and an alkyl group of moderate size, C10--18, are necessary components. These components react with the surface region of TMV which is considered to have an important role in connecting coat protein subunits in TMV virions.