Modification of tobacco mosaic virus by polyornithine and lecithin.

Combined action of polyornithine and lecithin modified tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) virions making them sensitive to ribonuclease (RNase), pronase or Triton X-100. Sedimentational analysis and examination of the fluorescence spectrum revealed that the reaction product obtained after RNase treatments of modified TMV was a three-component complex made of coat protein, polyornithine and lecithin. The minimum requirement for the modification was completely fulfilled by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, suggesting that a positively charged nitrogen group and an alkyl group of moderate size, C10--18, are necessary components. These components react with the surface region of TMV which is considered to have an important role in connecting coat protein subunits in TMV virions.