Purification and Properties of Nascent f2 Phage Ribonucleic Acid
Year: 1969
Type: article
Abstract: Nascent f2 phage RNA can be isolated from infected Escherich a coli attached to replicating structures. The isolated replicating structures contain both single- and double-stranded RNA. We have digested away the double-stranded portions with E. coli ribonuclease III and have studied the properties of the purified nascent single strands. They resemble incomplete viral RNA by the criterion of annealing as well as by enzymatic and chromatographic tests. End group analysis of the isolated nascent phage RNA shows it to contain the same 5' end group present in intact RNA isolated from phage particles. Since this end group is the guanosine tetraphosphate, viral strands are synthesized in a 5' to 3' direction. The average size of a nascent strand was determined by measuring the ratio of 5'-terminal phosphate to internal phosphate, and comparing this ratio to that obtained from intact phage RNA. The nascent strands average 0.25 of a full length strand, shorter than the size expected were RNA synthesized at a constant rate. This finding may reflect one way in which the phage controls the availability of its cistrons for translation in the infected cell.
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Authors: Hugh D. Robertson, Norton D. Zinder
Institution: Rockefeller University
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,430
OpenAlex ID: W1517801986