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J Virol. 1991 August; 65(8): 4211-4215

Genomic structure and RNA polymerase activity in Leishmania virus.

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

ABSTRACT

Viral particles infecting some stocks of the protozoan parasite Leishmania braziliensis subsp. guyanensis contain a double-stranded RNA genome of ca. 5 kbp and are associated with an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase which synthesizes in vitro double-stranded and single-stranded, genome-length transcripts. The majority of viral transcripts are single-stranded and templated from one genomic strand. The putative replicase generates double-stranded RNA by synthesizing the opposite strand on a preexisting RNA template. These data are compatible with a replicative cycle proposed for the yeast viruses. Purification of the Leishmania virus on CsCl yields virus without double-strand synthesis activity, while this activity is consistently present in unpurified virus and in particles from sucrose gradients. The deficiency in double-strand synthesis in CsCl-derived virions correlates with the accessibility of the viral polymerase and genomic RNA to exogenously added enzymes, indicative of a structural modification of the viral capsid.