Biological and physical properties of the two nucleoprotein components of pea enation mosaic virus and their associated nucleic acids

Abstract

Both the 95 and 115 S nucleoprotein components of pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) were found to be infectious. Neither component enhanced the infectivity of the other when inoculated onto Chenopodium quinoa or C. amaranticolor. Nucleic acid preparations from unfractionated PEMV separated into three components upon electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels or centrifugation in sucrose density gradients. Viral RNAs sedimented at 34, 30, and 12 S and had molecular weights of 1.74 × 106, 1.44 × 106, and 0.28 × 106 daltons as estimated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After formaldehyde treatment viral RNAs migrated more slowly but still behaved as three separate components in polyacrylamide gels. The 1.44 × 106 dalton RNA component after recycling through polyacrylamide gels, was found to be infectious to peas and C. amaranticolor. The largest and smallest RNA components were not infectious and have no known function. Both the 95 and 115 S nucleoprotein components contain infectious 1.44 × 106 dalton RNA but the largest and smallest RNA components are associated exclusively with the 115 S nucleoprotein. © 1972.