Nucleic Acids Research, 1978, Vol. 5, No. 10 3843-3854
© 1978
Articles |
Semi-conservative transcription in particles of a double-stranded RNA mycovirus
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Received July 24, 1978. During transcription in vitro catalysed by the virion RNA polymerase of Aspergillus foetidus virus AfV-S in the presence of tritiated UTP, the virus double-stranded RNA becomes labelled in one strand, which has the same sequence as the single-stranded RNA transcripts produced. Most of the label incorporated into double-stranded RNA could be chased into single-stranded RNA by further reaction with excess unlabelled nucleoside tri-phosphates. In reactions containing tritiated UTP the single-stranded RNA transcripts released after the first round of transcription were unlabelled. It is concluded that transcription in virions of AfV-S occurs by displacement of one of the strands of double-stranded RNA by the RNA strand being newly synthesised i.e. the reaction is semi-conservative with respect to double-stranded RNA.