Structure and Molecular Weight of the 60-70S RNA and the 30-40S RNA of the Rous Sarcoma Virus

  1. Walter F. Mangel*,
  2. Hajo Delius†, and
  3. Peter H. Duesberg‡
  1. *The Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory, P.O. Box 123, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, England
  2. †Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, P.O. Box 100, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 11724
  3. ‡Department of Molecular Biology and Virus Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720

Abstract

The structure and molecular weight of the 60-70S RNA complex and the 30-40S RNA species of Rous sarcoma virus were analyzed in an electron microscope after treatment of the RNAs with the bacteriophage T4 gene-32 protein to stretch out the RNA strands. Although all RNA preparations treated with gene-32 protein showed considerable heterogeneity in length, a significant fraction of the RNA retained its original sedimentation coefficient after treatment to allow the following conclusions to be made: The 30-40S RNA was confirmed to be a linear polynucleotide with a molecular weight of about 3 × 106. The 60-70S RNA exhibited a network structure with a molecular weight predominantly of about 6 × 106. Therefore, the subunit hypothesis for the 60-70S RNA is confirmed. A model for the structure and molecular weight of the 60-70S RNA postulates that the complex consists of two 30-40S RNA subunits held together at many points. This model elucidates the biological observation that the infectivity of RNA tumor viruses is proportional to the amount of 30-40S RNA in a virus preparation and not to the amount of 60-70S RNA.

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  1. PNAS November 1, 1974 vol. 71 no. 11 4541-4545
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