Replication of tobacco ringspot virus: II. Differences in nucleotide sequences between the viral RNA components

Abstract Tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV)-specific double-stranded (ds)-RNA was used in competition hybridization experiments to compare the nucleotide sequences of the viral RNAs. The results indicate that the RNA of molecular weight 1.4 × 10 6 (RNA 1 ) isolated from either middle or bottom component particles of TRSV have indistinguishable nucleotide sequences. However, the sequences of the RNA of molecular weight 2.3 × 10 6 (RNA 2 ) are distinct from those of RNA 1 although these RNAs may have sequences of about 900 nucleotides in common.