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Evidence for Two Functional RNA Species in Raspberry Ringspot Virus
Abstract
SUMMARY
Preparations of top (T), middle (M) and bottom (B) component particles were made by centrifuging purified raspberry ringspot virus in sucrose density gradients. Only B particles were infective alone, but infectivity was increased by adding excess M particles to B particles. RNA obtained from purified virus was fractionated by centrifuging in density gradients and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Preparations of the larger RNA species (RNA-1, mol. wt 2.4 × 106) were infective but those of the smaller species (RNA-2, mol. wt 1.4 × 106) were not; infectivity of RNA-1 was greatly increased by addition of RNA-2. RNA-2 from M and B particles behaved similarly. The effect of RNA-2 was not mimicked by yeast RNA and was abolished by u.v. irradiation. The RNA-1 and RNA-2 of tobacco ringspot virus behaved like those of raspberry ringspot virus in infectivity tests, but no interaction was detected between RNA species from the two viruses. It is suggested that RNA-1 and RNA-2 carry different pieces of genetic information.
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© Society for General Microbiology, 1972