Increase of satellite tobacco ringspot virus RNA initiated by inoculating circular RNA.

A small satellite RNA of tobacco ringspot virus (sTRSV RNA) generates circular and linear molecules of unit length and repetitive sequence, linear multimers during replication. The phosphodiester junction joining the unit satellite RNA sequences in multimeric and circular RNA resisted base-catalyzed cleavage in circles but not in linear dimers. We postulate that junctions of multimeric satellite RNA form during synthesis of the polyribonucleotide chain, whereas those of circular RNA result from a ligation reaction that introduces a group blocking the junction 2'-hydroxyl. To test the relative effectiveness of linear and circular satellite RNAs in initiating replication, we inoculated onto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris cv Black Valentine) the four possible pairs of satellite RNA molecules, one member of each pair having the wild-type sTRSV RNA sequence and the other that of the replicating mutant 51AG/212CU, with each sequence provided as the unit circular or linear form. The relative amounts of wild-type and mutant satellite RNA sequence recovered from progeny virions reflected their relative abundances in the inoculum without regard to whether the sequence was supplied as a linear or a circular molecule. These results are consistent with models for the replication of the satellite RNA in which a circular form of the satellite RNA is a template for rolling circle transcription or is otherwise a replication intermediate or is readily converted to an intermediate. We also show that a circular form of a nonaccumulating satellite RNA mutant induced an increase in a satellite RNA that is endogenous to some tobacco ringspot virus virion preparations, as demonstrated previously for the linear form.