Mapping Pieris rapae granulosis virus transcripts and their in vitro translation products.

Poly(A)+ RNA was isolated from Pieris rapae granulosis virus (PrGV)-infected P. rapae larvae at times early (40 h postinoculation) and late (88 h postinoculation) in larval infection. Using Northern (RNA) blot analysis, we determined the sizes, relative abundances, and map locations of over 100 PrGV transcripts. Differences were found in the transcripts which had accumulated at the two time points. Splicing of these transcripts was not detected. Evidence for the expression of overlapping RNAs in PrGV was obtained. A minimum of 35 PrGV translation products were detected via hybrid selection of poly(A)+ RNA with specific PrGV restriction endonuclease fragments, followed by in vitro translation.