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

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 × 10⁶ (RNA₁) 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 × 10⁶ (RNA₂) are distinct from those of RNA₁ although these RNAs may have sequences of about 900 nucleotides in common.