Characterization of influenza virus ribonucleic acid duplex produced by annealing in vitro.

A ribonuclease-resistant ribonucleic acid (RNA) with a sedimentation coefficient of 12S was obtained by self-annealing influenza virus-specific RNA isolated from infected cells. It had the properties of double-stranded RNA. (i) Sedimentation behavior in sucrose gradient was independent of salt concentration. (ii) Thermal transition profile was sharp; the melting temperature is 83 C in 0.1 SSC (0.15 m NaCl plus 0.015 m sodium citrate) and 98 C in SSC. (iii) Buoyant density in cesium sulfate was 1.58 g/cm(3) compared to 1.64 g/cm(3) for single-stranded RNA. (iv) It gave rise to single-stranded RNA after denaturation. (v) The 12S RNA duplex contained both plus and minus strands of influenza virus. Labeled plus strands could be displaced by extraneous cold plus strands and extraneous (32)P-labeled plus strands could be incorporated into duplex after denaturation and reannealing.