Ribonuclease Cleavage Research Articles

Properties and relationships among RNA species from tobacco rattle virus

Ribonucleic acid isolated from a strain of tobacco rattle virus, which normally displays three distinct nucleoprotein particles, sedimented as three species of 12, 18, and 26 S. Only the latter is infectious. The nucleotide compositions of the three components were closely related, however; the 18 S moiety having the most divergent composition. Stability studies involving thermal denaturation and ribonuclease cleavage indicated that the 12 S RNA can be obtained from the infectious 26 S RNA. The rate and incorporation of 32P into the 18 and 26 S RNA components suggested that the non-infectious 18 S component is a rapidly synthesized natural product of virus infection. No synthetic precursor or degradation product role could be attributed to the 18 S form.