Characterization of Ribonucleic Acid Transcriptase in Ibaraki Virus Core Particles

Ibaraki virus core particles were purified from infected BHK-21 cells. The core particles displayed RNA transcriptase activity while the virion did not. The RNA transcriptase activity was stimulated about 15-fold by addition of S-adenosyl-l-methionine. The reaction product was single-stranded RNA which could be hybridized with heat-denatured Ibaraki virus RNA. The hybrids possessed the same electrophoretic mobility as Ibaraki virus double-stranded RNA.