Evidence for the role of subgenomic RNAs in the production of potato virus S coat protein during in vitro translation.

Purified virus particles of potato virus S (PVS) when disrupted yielded only one readily resolved band of 7.5 kb in ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels. However Northern hybridization of viral RNA, probed with a clone specific to the viral coat protein gene, revealed a region of subgenomic RNAs of approximately 1.3 kb. Sucrose gradient fractionation of subgenomic RNA revealed that it coded for viral coat protein when translated in vitro in rabbit reticulocyte lysate. Virus particle lengths suggest that this subgenomic RNA may be encapsidated in 100 to 220 nm particles.