Infectious Ribonucleic Acid as Precursor of Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Abstract

IN an earlier communication¹, it was reported that the latent period after infection with virus ribonucleic acid is about 10 hr. shorter than after infection with complete tobacco mosaic virus. The simplest explanation for this effect is that the release of ribonucleic acid from the virus takes some time. But even after infection with pure ribonucleic acid, there is a latent period of about 10–20 hr. We have now studied the events during this remaining period in some detail. It seems possible that the first event after infection is a multiplication of the released ribonucleic acid and that a certain amount of it has to be formed before the synthesis of the virus protein can be initiated; this protein will later combine with the ribonucleic acid to form the complete virus.