Replication of Western equine encephalomyelitis virus. I. Some chemical and physical characteristics of viral ribonucleic acid.

The ribonucleic acid (RNA) from Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) virions sedimented through sucrose gradients with a sedimentation coefficient of 40S. Another viral RNA which was always associated with infected cells possessed a sedimentation coefficient of 26S. Both 40S and 26S RNA had identical base compositions and densities. The 40S RNA displayed a hyperchromic effect when heated with a T(m) of 57.5 C. When 40S RNA was heated at 90 C and cooled rapidly, it sedimented with a coefficient of 26S. Dialysis of 40S RNA against distilled water changed its sedimentation coefficient to 26S. The presence of 8 m urea or 50% dimethyl sulfoxide in the gradients also altered the sedimentation rate of 40S RNA to 26S. In the latter case, the 26S RNA retained 10% of the infectivity originally added as 40S RNA. Dialysis of 26S RNA against 0.5 m NaCl or 0.05 m acetate buffer at pH 4.0 altered it so that about 50% of the radioactivity sedimented with a coefficient of 40S. Chromatography on methylated albumin-kieselguhr columns failed to separate 40S RNA from 26S RNA. Viral RNA either exists in two conformations which sediment differently in sucrose or contains an extremely labile portion near the center and is easily broken into two equal pieces.