Supercoiling of the Genomic Double-stranded RNA of Rice Dwarf Virus

Summary When particles of rice dwarf virus were partially disrupted by treatment with EDTA, genome RNA was extruded. Electron microscope observations of these particles suggested that the genome RNA is packed within the virus particle as a supercoiled structure. Genome RNA, extracted using a newly devised two-step extraction method, appeared to consist of supercoiled segments of RNA complexed with protein.