The genome of respiratory syncytial virus is a negative-stranded RNA that codes for at least seven mRNA species

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The RNA from purified respiratory syncytial (RS) virions and the RNA from RS virus-infected human laryngeal carcinoma HEp-2 cells were isolated and characterized. The RNA from RS virions was found to be a unique species of single-stranded RNA of .apprx. 5 .times. 106 daltons. Specific annealing experiments demonstrated that at least 93% of the virion RNA was of negative (nonmessage) polarity. Eight major and 3 minor species of virus-specific RNA were detected in the cytoplasm of RS virus-infected HEp-2 cells. The largest intracellular RNA species comigrated with RNA from purified virions, was not polyadenylated and was synthesized only in the presence of concomitant protein synthesis. The 7 major smaller species of RNA were synthesized in the presence of an inhibitor of protein synthesis. These RNA were all polyadenylated and were shown to be RS virus specific by their ability to anneal specifically to purified virion RNA. The sum of the sizes of the major RS virus-specific polyadenylated RNA was sufficient to account for the coding capacity of the RS virus genome (within the limits of reliability of the methods we have used to determine size).