An analysis by gel electrophoresis of Q-beta-RNA complexes formed during the latent period of an in vitro synthesis.

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Abstract
Electrophoretic separation on acrylamide gels was used to follow the progress of infectious viral RNA synthesis by purified QB-replicase. Particular attention was focused on the fate of the initiating templates during the latent and eclipse periods that precede the appearance of the first complete strands. It was shown that 2 classes of complexes containing initiating template materialize in the latent period. Their emergence is paralleled quantitatively by a concomitant loss of the input RNA as infectious entities. The first complex to appear Hofschneider (HS) corresponds in its properties to the structure found in vivo by Hofschneider and his colleague. The 2nd complex Franklin (FS) makes its appearance about one min. later and resembles the "replicative intermediate" isolated from infected cells by Franklin. Although not as yet conclusive, the temporal order of their appearance is consistent with a mechanism which suggests that HS gives rise to FS which, in turn, generates viral RNA. The ease with which these components can be detected and separated by gel electrophoresis makes it technically feasible to perform the experiments required to delineate definitively the chemical details of the RNA-replicating mechanism.