Methylated and blocked 5' termini in vesicular stomatitis virus in vivo mRNAs.

Methyl groups derived from 3H-methyl methionine were incorporated into vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) MRNAs isolated from infected cells. Sequential degradation of the 12-18S viral mRNA species with ribonuclease T2, penicillium nuclease, and alkaline phosphatase yielded a single 3H-labeled dinucleotide. A similar resistant 32P-labeled fragment was obtained by digesting VSV mRNA uniformly labeled with 32P. This methylated and blocked oligomer was further cleaved with nucleotide pyrophosphatase, yielding two methylated 5' nucleotides. We postulate that the 5' terminal structure of the vivo 12-18S VSV mRNA contains 7-methylguanosine linked by a 5'-5' pyrophosphate bond to a methylated derivative of adenosine. In contrast to the mRNAs (+ strand), the VSV genome RNA ( MINUS STRAND) IS NOT BLOCKED.