BIOPHYSICAL STUDIES OF INFECTIOUS RIBONUCLEIC ACID FROM TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS

Abstract
Tobacco mosaic virus ribonucleic acid (RNA) preparations are subject to both extrinsic and intrinsic modes of degradation. The extrinsic mode can be reduced by traces of certain metals, notably nickel, and can be markedly minimized by purification of the RNA. The intrinsic mode reveals a set of discrete and apparently uniformly spaced points of preferred cleavage of the RNA, which must reflect some interesting discontinuities of structure. No element smaller than the intact RNA has been found to be infective. Partition ultracentrifuge studies at low RNA concentrations cast doubt upon the identity of the bulk RNA of these preparations and the infective component.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: