Intracellular vesicular stomatitis virus leader RNAs are found in nucleocapsid structures.
Previous studies demonstrated that cytoplasmic extracts of cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus contain plus-strand leader RNAs which sediment at 18S on sucrose gradients as a complex with viral N protein. The work presented in this paper demonstrated that these 18S complexes were stable on CsCl density gradients, banding at a buoyant density near that of genome nucleocapsids, and exhibited a morphology in an electron microscope similar to the disk structures found in virus genome nucleocapsids. Minus-strand leader RNAs were also found in 18S complexes on sucrose gradients. Quantitation of intracellular leader RNA suggested that, late in infection, approximately three-quarters of total intracellular leader RNA was encapsidated.
D000818:Animals; D002213:Capsid / Q000032:analysis*; D002460:Cell Line; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D006224:Cricetinae; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000032:analysis* / Q000254:growth & development; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins