Time-Course of Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus RNA Replication

Abstract

In a synchronous infection of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus in cowpea leaves, the three largest viral RNA components were synthesized throughout the infection at relatively constant ratios of two molecules of component 3 to one each of components 1 and 2. Component 4 (the coat protein message) was produced minimally during the initial stages of the infection, and as the infection progressed the proportion of component 4 continuously increased. The replicative forms of components 1, 2, and 3 were produced with kinetics similar to those of the corresponding single-stranded molecules.