Translation of Semliki forest virus 42S and 26S RNAs in a cell-free system derived from Escherichia coli.

The SFV 42S RNA and the intracellular 26S RNA have been translated in a prokaryotic cell-free system, the E. coli S30. About half of the [35S]methionine-labelled products directed by both RNAs had molecular weights larger than 20,000 on polyacrylamide gels. Both products contained tryptic peptides which comigrated with all the capsid and envelope protein-derived peptides. The most striking difference between the prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems lay in the translation of the 42 S RNA: The "42S RNA-specific nonstructural" peptides, which predominate in the eukaryotic systems, were apparently absent from the product translated by the prokaryotic system.